Next Exit
by Mayfall
Summary: Seifer/Hayner, AkuRoku - When Hayner runs away from home, where will he live? And once he's figured that out, what about his new roommate? Can they really live together? And who's this 'Axel' guy Roxas is involved with? Rated T - More summary inside.
1. Trouble at the Twilight Train Tracks

Soo... Hey. 8D This is my second attempt at a story on FanFiction... My first one never made it past one little lame chapter, haha. (I kept it up, though, for fond memories. 0: ) But, hopefully, this one will last longer. I really like this one so far, and I've got some ideas for future chapters. :3 Sooo... I hope people like it! It's my try at Sayner or Heifer, Sayfer, or Heiner or whateveritscalled. I call it Sayner (or is it Heiner?! =O), but that's just me.

Every since my friend showed me an amazing Sayner story, I've been obsessed with these two. I guess that, since we don't see much about them in KH2, it gives writer-people a little more freedom to mold them to do whatever they want. :3 Y'know? Well, that's my thinking, anyway. Here's to the end of this schpeal. Whee.

Also:  
- - - Yes this story contains guy on guy. Guy/guy. Mano e mano. ManxMan. Teenage boys getting hot at the idea of other teenage boys pants. Deal with it, or hit the back arrow. Please post no flames of any kind against homosexuality. Thanks, kbai. - - -

Also: There's some Axel/Roxas, too. AkuRoku

**Anudder Summary:** When Hayner finds himself on the streets at the beginning of Winter Break, he needs to find a place to crash at for the next three weeks. When an event at the train station brings him to meet his new roommate, what will become of the two teen enemies as they struggle to share the same living space? And whatever is up with this guy Axel, Hayner's not happy about it. Rated T for Teen. Sorry kiddos. No boylove for you. D;

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Kingdom Hearts, you'd be paying to read this! :o! Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney and who/whatever else owns it. Whoo.

* * *

\e\x\i\t\ Next Exit /n/e/x/t/

A Kingdom Hearts Fanfic by Mayfall

- - - - - - - Chapter One: Trouble at the Twilight Train Tracks - - - - - - -

* * *

It was hot. And he was tired. So it wasn't his fault he wasn't thinking straight.

After all, he had gotten **no** sleep the night before. Instead, he had been up all night studying for his math midterm.

...

Alright, well, that was lie. The same lie he had told his parents.

...

Yeah. They hadn't believed him, either.

Well, to be honest, he _had_ stayed up late. And he _had_ studied. Just... not at the same time. He had managed to squeeze in a bit of studying for his midterm as he was eating his after-school snack (two pieces of leftover pizza and three cokes), before putting down the books and moving on to the video games. He had been planning on only playing for a little while - a few hours or so - and then moving back to school work, but... Well, he had gotten distracted.

Until 3 am.

_I really should put a clock in my room..._

So, needless to say, after only three hours of sleep, he failed his midterm the next morning. Or, rather, that morning. This morning? Whatever. Point is, he failed.

And, naturally, his parents flipped.

After all, the final 'C-' grade he got in math wasn't exactly a grade to be proud about. And even though it was just a quarter grade – that is to say, a grade that most schools didn't include on the transcript – his school not only included it, but made sure colleges saw it. And that, to his parents, was the most important thing for him – getting into a good college. But how could he do that if he got such bad grades?

So, after enduring his mother's tears, his father's scoldings, and both parents threats for over an hour, he lost it. He was tired, he was cranky, and he knew he screwed up. So why did they need to tell him that over and over? He had had enough. Hayner, in a burst of rage, went stomping out of his house as his parents' indignant cries followed him until the door slammed shut behind him, cutting off their voices. He managed to make it down the driveway and past their two cars, before the door opened and he heard the angry voice of his father.

"You get back here right now, young man! Don't you dare disrespect your mother and me like this!"

Hayner ignored his father, and instead the brown-eyed teen slammed their gate open with his foot, earning a satisfying clang as it banged against the fence surrounding their property. It was a house built for a family with a dog – but both his parents hated dogs. Hayner, however, loved them.

It was just something else they disagreed on.

"That's it! Don't you dare darken our doorstep again until you've learned the error of your ways, you ungrateful little ingrate!"

Words fueled by anger. Sure, his parents and him didn't exactly get along all the time, but there was always love there. But now... now, his father sounded really mad. More mad than Hayner could ever remember. Yeah, well, he was angry too.

"Screw you, old man!" Hayner shouted, whirling around and flashing his father the bird. But the front door was closed before his finger had made it all the way straight, and Hayner was left staring at the white wooden door with the address 1213 tacked on by bronze letters. The lock clicked shut, and then there was silence from the front doorstep.

Staring at the house before him, Hayner felt an odd mix of emotions spinning through his stomach. Anger, dread, resentment, and hunger circled the most prominently, making his overall mood a total compilation of 'Yucky.' As he noticed his neighbors peeking their nosy little faces through their curtains and watching him curiously, Hayner decided it was time to get out of there.

So, with a last grimace to his parent's house, Hayner flung his hands into his pockets and huffed once, before turning on his heel and getting the hell out of there.

x-x-x-x-

And so here he was now. In all his splendor. The 17-year-old ran a nervous hand through his hair as he glanced back and forth. Boy, he looked suspicious. He felt it, too. Each curious glance sent his way made him feel like the people on the street around him knew his secret, and about what had just happened, and were all silently judging him as he passed by. He frowned to himself, sighing lightly as he turned a street corner. Both his hands buried themselves into his pockets again, and he watched his feet as he walked, trying to avoid the burning eyes directed at him. He always put his hands in his pockets when he got nervous, and now was definitely one of those times.

What had he been thinking, anyway? He had been the one to screw up in the first place, after all. His parents were only trying to be good parents by lecturing him, right? Trying to teach him life lessons... Well, he was 17 now - almost 18 - and he couldn't stand to be treated like a child anymore! He wasn't as rebellious as his hair might lead one to think - he wasn't a bad kid, really. He hardly ever disobeyed his parents, but this time, it had all been too much. Something about the combination of lack of sleep and the fresh failure of his math grade, had sent him over the edge like boiling water in a pot too small. In fact, it was just his pride that was keeping him from running back now. He was just too stubborn to let them win. And he had been in a bad mood for the past few days anyway, so this was letting him work some of it out. After all, he was currently in a large... _dispute_ between himself and one of his best friends, Roxas, which made him a little more than tense.

"Fuh," Hayner hissed to himself, looking up suddenly, and glaring at the head of the man in front of him. Just thinking about Roxas was making him feel angry all over again. He primarily blamed his close friend for his lack of concentration when it came to studying - it wasn't easy to be a happy person when Roxas was mad at you.

But why should he be! _I was only trying to look out for that little... that little... oooh!_ Hayner spat on the side of the sidewalk, earning a disgusted look from a passing stranger - whom he promptly ignored - and instead watched his feet again.

It started three days prior, when Roxas had suddenly made an announcement to his closest friend - Hayner himself - that he was madly, head over in heels, tickled pink, in love with another person: a man by the name of Axel.

_Stressing the word _man, Hayner thought bitterly.

The guy was a college student, for goodness' sake! He was four years older than Roxas at 20, and three - almost two! - years older than Hayner himself. And, frankly, Hayner didn't like the thought of his shorter and younger friend being around such an **old** man. So, being the caring soul he was, Hayner had voiced his concern in a thoughtful, articulate manner.

"Haha, there's no way in hell I'll let you go out with a guy in college, Roxas. Better luck next time." And he patted Roxas on the back.

"... What's that supposed to mean?" Roxas had asked, throwing off his hand. "I wasn't asking for permission from you Hayner - I was telling you."

Hayner mirrored Roxas' look of growing anger, and looked uncertainly into Roxas' eyes. Slowly, he said, "You're... not joking, are you?"

"Why would I joke about this?" Roxas flicked his hair out of his eyes in an angry manner, and his hands curled in on themselves slightly.

Hayner raised an eyebrow. "Well, Roxas, first off, you said you met this guy in a coffee shop... What was he doing there?"

Roxas frowned. "All college students drink coffee, Hayn -"

"Yeah, but on their school campus' coffee shop!" Hayner waved his arms around to make his verbal point physically stronger. "Not in the shop alongside the high school! I dunno, Rox - this guy sounds like a suspicious character to me. What, did he enter the coffee shop, and you two locked eyes and instantly fell in love? Ha! I don't believe it!"

Roxas narrowed his eyes and took a step back away from Hayner. "You're... you don't..." Hayner flinched.

"Oh, god, you're not about to start crying on me, are you? C'mon, Roxas, grow up..." He finished uncertainly as he warily watched the tears growing in those blue eyes of the boy across from him. Roxas merely wiped his eyes with a pale fist, and looked to Hayner with eyes already starting to turn red and sore.

"You're... such a jerk!" And off Roxas had gone, letting his anger and frustration be expressed in one last sentence, before he fled the scene, running from Hayner's attempts to stop him.

...

Alright, so, maybe he could have handled it better. But he had been taken off guard, that was all! Sure, Roxas had hinted he had liked guys - and Hayner's opinion of him hadn't changed at all since then (in fact it had explained some of Roxas' odd behaviors of sniffling and pouting like a school girl) - but to hear that Roxas had suddenly nabbed a college boyfriend in only a few hours of meeting him made Hayner incredibly apprehensive. What if the guy was some kind of creep who was looking to exploit the teenager? Wouldn't he be considered a bad friend if he hadn't voiced his concern?

Clearly, Hayner had had only the best intentions at heart... Now, if only he could make Roxas see that. But he wasn't exactly clear-minded or coherent when it came to talking about emotions and feelings. He just wasn't good with the stuff. He knew how he felt, after all, and he should just be able to say 'I'm mad', or 'I'm happy', and be done with it. Roxas always was one to go more in-depth in that kind of thing, which made communication between them difficult sometimes.

Sighing, Hayner tried to forget about Roxas, and instead looked up at the sky, feeling the warm rays of the sun beating down on his tanned skin. Tomorrow was the start of a three-week long winter break, but Twilight Town's weather was always unpredictable. It had been hot for the past week or so, but Hayner had heard warnings about rain coming soon, with some snow expected next week. But for now, it was almost 90 degrees out, and Hayner was feeling it despite the sleeveless shirt and vest he wore. It was hot and humid, and it wasn't helping the fact that his body was so low on sleep – the heat felt nice, and he felt relaxed.

Yawning, Hayner came to a street he wanted to cross – for, even though he had run out of the house unexpectedly, he already had a plan starting in his mind.

After looking both ways, Hayner stepped off the curb and crossed the street. He couldn't hide in his and his friends' secret place – a small club-house like area hidden behind a chain link fence and rugs, located near the Sand Lot in the other half of town (the houses and downtown area were separated by a train ride) – because he knew his parents knew where this hideout was, and he didn't want them finding him. Again, his pride was telling him to disappear for the whole three weeks until his parents finally broke down and started calling the police about their missing son.

But that meant finding someplace to stay for the duration of break. And that's where the problem lay.

Pence and Olette were both away for Winter Break, which ruled out the thought of staying with one of them. There was always Roxas' house, but… No. Roxas had been unfair to him and hadn't understood what he had been saying before… No, no, no, he wasn't going to let Roxas know where he was, either. If Hayner were to suddenly disappear off the face of the planet for three weeks, then all the people who had treated him badly – his parents, Roxas… - would be worried sick, and he'd get his revenge. They would think he had been kidnapped, or possible lost in the wilderness… Like there was wilderness anywhere near Twilight Town.

It was a great plan, but he just needed to figure out his living arrangement. Digging into the pocket of his pants, Hayner pulled out his wallet and cracked it open.

_Thank god I still have money after that movie on Friday... _Normally, Hayner kept his money in a pickle jar in his room, but a week ago he had gathered it all up and put it in a wallet for the movie, as he had been running late and didn't have enough time to sort out how much he needed exactly. So, he had about 400 to 500 dollars on him. That was enough for three weeks, right? Sure, it sucked to spend all his money like this, but maybe – hopefully – his parents would cave before then, and Hayner would return home on his own with apologies and a welcome as warm as the cookies they would surely make for him. However, right now, Hayner wasn't sure he even wanted to get home – he was still kinda mad at them. And he was almost an adult anyway, right? Even though he had been held back a year in elementary school, that didn't change the fact that he was almost eighteen – even if he was still a junior is high school.

Crossing another street with a small yawn, Hayner started up the street toward the train station. So his plan was this: Hop on the only train that went out of Twilight Town, rent himself a small apartment, and then pig out on junk food and cable for the three weeks until it was time for school again. It sounded like a pretty nice plan, actually. He was proud of himself for figuring it out.

The only problem was that the train only came once every other day. After all, not a lot of people wanted to go to Twilight Town, so there was no real need for a bustling train that took tourists to and fro. People only used it to get out of the town for vacation, before returning shortly afterwards and resuming their quiet life. So Hayner had to just hope that this would be the day it was coming, or else he would have nowhere to go for the night.

So, taking his hands out of his pockets, Hayner started to jog a little toward the train station. He could see the train clock from here; it was almost three, and the train would arrive – if it was coming at all – at three exactly, so he knew he should hurry.

But he was so tired! And as he ran, yawning, he felt the sunshine once more. He was tired, and it was hot out. He just wanted to curl into a ball and fall asleep right there on the sidewalk, but he knew that would never work. He would have to get on the train, and get the apartment first, and then fall asleep once his plan was secure. He couldn't sleep right now…

Taking the stairs two at a time – and then sincerely wishing he hadn't, for the pain it caused his tired body – Hayner made it to the train platform. He glanced behind him at the stairs as he walked to the ticket counter. Once, him, Roxas, Pence, and Olette had all been here at the station, counting the stairs that led to and from this platform. It was for a summer assignment he summer before last – something about 'The Wonders of Twilight Town'. It was over a year ago, but he still remembered the event as if it had been yesterday…

"Can I help you, sir?" Hayner looked forward with a slight shock as he realized he was standing in front of the counter, with the woman behind it giving him a weird look.

"Uh, yes..." Hayner stammered, pulling out his wallet again. "Is the Huntington Express coming today?" Huntington – the name of the next town over.

"Yes, sir, it is. Would you like a ticket going both ways?" The woman turned away from him and started typing on her computer, already filling out his order.

"Uh, no – one-way, please." She read off the total amount for the ticket, and Hayner fumbled around, finally producing the required payment, and passed the money over the counter. "Thanks," he mumbled, accepting the ticket.

"The train will be arriving shortly – on the far platform. Please watch your step and have a nice trip."

After mumbling his appreciation again, Hayner turned away from the counter and looked at the train tracks. He sighed once, before stuffing his hands in his pockets.

His mind was getting away from him, thinking about the past like that... Jeeze, it wasn't like he was never going to come home again – he shouldn't act like this was the end. He was just tired, that was all.

Hayner yawned yet again as he came to the edge of the platform. He would have to cross the train tracks to get to his platform... He yawned again as he glanced back and forth. He was so tiiired... He stuffed his hands – one holding the ticket, one holding his wallet – back into his pockets as he stepped forward. So tired, so tired...

He jumped down into the tracks after making sure the area was clear. He stepped over the tracks of the Twilight Shuttle, which was the train system that took people of the town back and forth between the two sides of Twilight Town. There were two sets of tracks for the shuttle; every fifteen meetings the trains would switch stations, so that there would always be a shuttle at each station. It was a good system, considering how many people rode it every day.

As Hayner was stepping over the second set of tracks, yawning, his eyes closed, he felt his foot bump into the metal railing on the tracks. With a rush of adrenaline, Hayner felt himself suddenly falling forward. With a small cry, Hayner tumbled forward onto the last set of tracks, his hands still caught in his pockets so that he couldn't stop his fall. He fell on his shoulder, and felt his arm bang against the metal tracks. His feet fell last, landing on the gravel that separated the tracks.

With a hiss, Hayner rolled onto his back. "Jeeeze!" He seethed through his teeth, feeling fresh, burning pain along his arm. He hadn't broken anything, and he wasn't severely hurt, but it was more embarrassing than anything. To have fallen down so ungracefully – what was he, a two-year-old who didn't know how feet worked?!

With embarrassment, Hayner pushed himself up to a sitting position, and refused to look at the platform full of people who had witnessed his fall. He heard someone say, "Is he alright?" and he heard another one laugh. The laugh sounded familiar, but Hayner was in too much pain, and too tired to think about it. He wanted on that train more than ever now – just so that he could leave this horrible town behind, at least for a little while.

As he started dusting himself off and getting to his feet, Hayner felt something tug at the end of his pants. Looking down, Hayner realized the bottom of his pants had become wedged in-between one of the spikes that held the track down and the metal railing, so that his pants were pinned. He frowned, and bent down to tug his pants out of the track.

After a few seconds of twisting and pulling, Hayner was finally free. He dusted himself off once more as he stood up, and then heard a scream. Hayner, in his sleepy and bruised state, wondered why their scream sounded so high pitched and echo-y. It sounded again, and Hayner froze. This time, someone really did scream. But the last two times... those weren't screams. They were whistles.

Train whistles.

As though refusing to believe it, Hayner turned his head slowly sideways, and looked into the two pinpoints of light that were steadily growing larger. He felt his body seize up, and all he could do was concentration on the way his heartbeat was sounding in his ears. He was looking into the face of his death, and was unable to move, or do anything.

Forever seemed to have come and gone as the train grew larger and louder, getting closer and closer. The driver put on the breaks, but it was impossible to stop as they were so close together...

There was no way out...

Hayner was going to die.

As Hayner felt his limbs go numb, he stared straight into the face of the train, his mouth opening in a slight gasp. He knew it was inevitable – he had delayed too long, stood around watching for too long.. he couldn't save himself now…

As Hayner stared into the blinding headlights, he felt something connect with his chest, and he was suddenly flung backwards.

It felt like infinity passed as he was thrown through the air, watching the buildings and the ground rush away, and then come back. Finally, his back met the ground on the other side of the tracks, and he tumbled backwards, feeling a strong gripe encompass his chest. He felt like a snake had crawled out of the ground, and wound itself around his chest, holding onto him for dear life. He skidded slightly on the gravel, earning a few injuries, but he was more concerned about what had just happened.

He watched with startled eyes as the train passed in front of his eyes, and he felt the gust of wind that followed it. It threatened to suck him back into the danger he had somehow just avoided, but it was moving slower now, and he was able to remain rooted to the spot, the snake around his chest holding him tightly away from it.

It was only as the train slowed to stop, and people started shouting, "Are they okay?!" and "Did they make it?!" did Hayner realized the snake coiled around him was none other than a pair of strong arms – the same arms that had just pulled him out of trouble.

Hayner blinked as he stared at the sky, the adrenaline coursing through him keeping him from feeling sleepy anymore. The person next to him moved slightly, so that he knew they were okay. He realized he was partially laying on them, so he moved a bit, starting to sit up. As he did, he looked at the well-tanned arm across his chest, and wondered dimly,

_Who.. saved me?_

* * *

Did anyone get my reference? "Watch your step and have a nice trip." NICE TRIP. AND HE FELL. HAHA.

That was actually not intended. I'm just so funny I don't even have to plan it.

... I'm kidding, of course. You know that, right? D: I'm not that egotistical!

Comments and reviews are sooo super appreciated! You have no idea how much those float my boat. They'll even make me update faster! Well, if you want me to update faster... If anyone likes this...

And it's not that interesting yet, I know. But more'll happen next chapter! Reeeaalllyyy...

-- Also, ask me if you have any question. Since I'm the author I know what's going on. And sometimes I assume you know, too. So I may not make everything clear. In fact, here's some questions I thought I would get, and some answers:

Q: Where is Hayner walking around?  
A: I thought I would make it so that Hayner and his friends all lived not in the main Twilight Town, but in that place that they go in the second game to investigate the Wonders of Twilight Town... That's why I included Hayner's little flashback. So, there's a bunch of homes and stuff there in my world now. x--x;; And that's where he's walking around now.

Q: Is Huntington a real town in the game?  
A: Nu-uh. I made it up. It's a stupid name, but it popped into my head, and then I kept calling that, and I never got around to changing it. If someone wants to suggest a name change, please do and help me. ;333;

Q: Why did you make such a big deal about Hayner being sleepy? I survive off of two hours of sleep during the week...  
A: Hayner was originally going to fall asleep while crossing the tracks and then the train whistle would wake him up, but I didn't think that would actually.. happen. So, instead he fell. But now he looks clumsy, which is cute. :) Also - you should get more sleep! Two hours isn't good! D:!!

Q: Will Roxas and Axel be in this story?  
A: Ohyes. I've set them up to appear in later chapters. And it gets awkward when Hayner first meets Axel... But you'll find out more about that later.

Q: Was it Seifer who saved Hayner?!  
A: We'll find out! :O!!

... That's all I can think of. Ask me questions, and they shall go here! DD:

I hope you liked what you read, even just a little biiiit. :3

...  
And some people may/may not have recognized the title... It's from an Interpol song, called Next Exit. It's not, like, my all-time favorite song, but I do like it a lot. :3 And.. the title'll fit the story later.

...

I hope.


	2. Sickness and Near Death

Ohmigosh, I love you guys. I got so many hits (30 in the first eight hours! I'm so lucky! ;A;!!) and the story's already on alert lists! I was expecting, like, one review for the first few chapters - and I already have **six**! This is so amazing to me, you have no idea. :DDD!!

So! Here we are with chapter two! You guys made me feel really excited about it, so I just couldn't wait to write more, haha! So, here you guys go!

Oh, also – I finally looked up the names of the two different train stations (it was actually easier to find than I thought it would be 8D). **Central Station** is the one that is part of downtown Twilight Town (I'll also start calling that the shopping district), where all the shops and the Sandlot and the Secret Place is. **Sunset Station**, in the meantime, is the one located at the residential area, where Hayner and his buds searched for the seven wonders, and where his house is located in this FF. Hayner right now is at Sunset Station. So from now on I'll use those titles, so hopefully it'll be less confusing. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** The disclaimer from the first chapter still stands. :O!!

Note: And, yeah, I bleep out most of the swear words. -o-;; I'll get over it eventually, but for right now I can't bring myself to even write cusses... But it's not cause I'm over-religious, or anything, don't worry (not that there's anything wrong with being religious! =O!). I just don't like them. -o-;;

* * *

\e\x\i\t\ Next Exit /n/e/x/t/

A Kingdom Hearts FanFic by Mayfall

- - - - - - - Chapter Two: Sickness and Near Death - - - - - - -

* * *

It was hot. And he was cranky. So it wasn't his fault he wasn't thinking straight.

Today wasn't exactly the best day of his life. Midterms sucked, but at least he had passed above his usual 'D's. He was a senior now, anyway - it's not like his grades mattered anymore. Not that they were so hot last year, either. But, whatever.

He didn't want to go to college anyway.

But that wasn't the point. He wasn't being bothered by grades or anything like that. Right now he was just cranky for the recent waste of his time - _stupid Rai; making it sound like he was dying when all he had was a cold..._ He had taken the shuttle all the way from downtown to here, then ran through the streets, looking like a moron, all the way to his friend's house...

He had gotten the call from Rai about an hour ago, as soon as he got home.

"What?" He barked into the speaker. No - he didn't have caller ID. It was just how he answered his phone. Straight to the point - that's how he liked it.

"It's, like, I can't breathe, y'know?" It was Rai, speaking really quietly but really quickly, too. "And I can't feel the difference between hot and cold, y'know? One minute I'm hot, the next I'm freezing. It sucks, y'know?" Seifer frowned.

"What are you talking about, Rai? I can barely hear you -"

"I don't know how much longer I can hang on there, Seifer, y'know..." Rai's voice faded away, and then Seifer heard a click and the connection cut off suddenly.

"Rai? ... Rai! Godd-mn," Seifer swore into his beeping phone, and slammed it into the receiver. He made for the door, grabbing his jacket along the way, his door keys already in his hands, his trademark beanie already flattening the hair on his head.

Five minutes later he had appeared at the downtown train station, shoved his day pass under the nose of the nearest conductor, and gotten on the soonest shuttle leaving Central Station. Fifteen minutes after that, he was jumping off the same train before it had come to a complete stop, and began sprinting down the streets of the residential part of Twilight Town, turning corners at unhealthy speeds, and nearly crashing into several people. He finally careened his way down a block of houses, and turned abruptly to face the house on the left side of the street – Rai's own - jumping over the fence and galloping over the stairs to the front door.

Rai's parents and little sister were away on a vacation, and had left Rai behind to watch the house and feed their dog. They were headed to some boring place that Rai hadn't wanted to go to anyway, so the idea was actually his. But now it sounded like Rai had gotten himself in some real trouble, and Seifer was going to kill himself if he had let Rai live alone long enough to seriously injure himself...

Even though Rai's parents had only left the day before. And Rai was 19, almost 20.

But whatever - he was still an idiot who didn't know which end of a knife was sharp.

... _God, what if he accidentally cut himself?_ Seifer sped up a bit more.

Bursting through the door like a bat out of hell, Seifer stomped up the stairs quickly, his hand running along the railing. "Rai?!" He called through the seemingly empty, two-story house. "Rai, where are you?"

"Uh - In my room, Seif!" Seifer breathed a sigh of relief. Well at least Rai could still talk, right?

"Rai!" Seifer threw open the door, filling the doorway, expecting to see the mangled mess of his best friend sprawled out of reach of the phone. "What happened? Are you alri - ..."

And there was Rai. Sitting up in bed, a hot water bottle on his head, a bundle of tissues in one hand, and a remote in the other. The television played the theme of Spongebob rather loudly, but Rai was already turning it down upon Seifer's arrival as he watched him with a surprised look on his face. A box of cold medicine lay at his feet on the comforter, and a bottle of throat spray was balanced on the edge of his bedside table.

Seifer blinked at Rai, who blinked back at him. Finally, Rai raised a hand in greeting. "H-How you doin'?"

"... You.. have a.. cold..." Seifer said slowly, still feeling a bit taken aback at the casual appearance of someone he thought was in mortal peril.

"Well, yeah.. y'know." Rai looked over at the clock on his bedside, blowing his nose as he did so. "I called you less than half an hour ago, Seifer. How'd you get here so fast, y'know? And why's your eye twitching like that, y'know?"

... It turned out that Rai had merely dropped the phone when he had been talking to Seifer before, and it had gone underneath his bed. "And I couldn't get it - I don't know what sort of monsters live down there, y'know?" That was Rai's explanation for causing Seifer's panic.

Seifer swore a few times, scolded Rai for being over-dramatic, retrieved his phone from under the bed, swore a few more times, made fun of Rai for watching Spongebob, swore a bit more (he liked swearing – it made him feel better), and finally went downstairs and made his friend a bowl of alphabet chicken soup, fresh from the can.

"There you go, you loser," Seifer hissed, putting the tray of food down on Rai's bed. "Now stop behaving like a baby every time you get a stuffy nose. For god's sake, Rai, you're going to college in two weeks." Seifer hit the older boy upside the head, and then moved to go sit in the chair in the corner of Rai's room - after kicking the previous occupants of Rai's large clothes onto the floor.

"Yeah, man, I'm sorry." Rai's hand went to the back of his head, and looked apologetically at Seifer. "But I was feeling really sick, y'know? And then the medicine kicked in and made me feel loads better, y'know?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." As Rai took to his alphabet soup, Seifer crossed his arms and shuffled his feet, glancing around the boy's room without any real interest. Thinking about Rai leaving was making Seifer feel angry all over again. He always knew it had to happen someday - both Rai and Fuu were older than him and a year ahead of him in school, and he knew they would go off to college and leave him behind someday - but that didn't make it any easier for him now that the time had come. Fuu was already settling into her dorm room in the nearby town of Radiant Garden, and Raijin was going to join her in only fourteen days... And then it would be Seifer, all alone in Twilight Town.

And this did not please the 18-year-old.

He frowned, and got out of the chair and crossed Rai's room to pretend he was going to look out the window. He sighed lightly, leaning against the window frame, thinking to himself as the sounds of Spongebob played behind thim. He was a senior this year, and finally going to graduate, but his friends weren't going to be there to graduate with him. **His** friends would be gone, living away from him, enjoying their new lives in college. He had other friends, of course, around his age and younger... Like Vivi – he was to years younger than him, and he was pretty nice to hang out with, considering all he did was compliment Seifer on everything, but even that got boring after a while. Most kids in his own grade knew him, and they'd greet him if they met him the halls, but most of them just respected him as a great Struggle athlete, they didn't really want to be around him... And it was partly his fault, too. It wasn't like he exactly radiated 'friendship'... _Maybe I should try to smile more..._

_... Nah._

"Hey, look, I spelled my name!" Rai called sudden, shaking Seifer from his thoughts. Seifer turned around, and looked into Rai's grinning face.

"Great job," he said sarcastically, putting his hands into his jacket pockets, and walking around the bed. "You've achieved what every kindergartener dreams of."

Rai clicked his tongue in a sort of 'you-betcha' way, as Seifer leaned in and read the soggy noodles Rai had lined up on his plate. The yellow pieces of dough read 'Rai's Soup.'

"... How'd you get the apostrophe?" Seifer asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Bit an 'I' in half," Rai answered, scooping up the letters onto his spoon, and throwing them into his mouth.

Seifer chuckled lightly and shook his head. He was going to miss this big, brainless lug...

-x-x-x-x-

After making sure Rai was all set for the rest of the day – and promising to visit him tomorrow – Seifer left Rai's house ten minutes later, and started toward the train station. He had left in such a hurry before that he couldn't even remember if he had locked his door, so he wanted to get back before someone found the unlocked door and stole some of his stuff... Like he had anything worth stealing, anyway.

Ascending the stairs onto the Sunset Station train platform, he sent a quick glance to the clock. It was ten minutes 'til 3:00. So he had just missed the last shuttle. D-mn. What if he stuff was getting jacked right now? Well, at least no one could say he was a bad friend – he had left the house shortly before two o'clock, and he made it to Rai's house before 2:30 – a new personal record.

The station was almost completely empty, so Seifer was able to walk up to the nearest, empty bench and sit down to wait. With his day pass on him, Seifer didn't have to worry about buying a ticket. He leaned back against the backrest, and tugged his beanie down a bit. It was hot out, but he didn't like to be without his beanie ever, so he always wore it – even during summer he had worn it. Only during unbearable hot days, or when he was swimming or showering, did Seifer every take it off. But don't get him wrong – Seifer thought his hair was d-mn sexy enough without the beanie, but he had grown used to the hat over the years, so the beanie was going to stay.

He tugged the hat down again, just to emphasize this statement to himself.

Five minutes later, the platform had slowly started to fill with people. Seifer blended in with the crowd now, in his seat on the far side of the platform, so it wasn't a surprise a certain someone didn't see him. But Seifer saw him.

As his eyes wandered around the station, observing people and just trying to keep himself occupied as he waited for the train, Seifer managed to spot a certain spiky-haired boy buying himself a ticket. Immediately, Seifer smirked like he just had a nasty idea, and sat up straight. He watched the shorter boy fumble around with his money, and tilted his head, the smirk lighting up his face.

_Well, well, look who it is. So what is Hayner doing here, all alone?_

Out of the top list of people Seifer liked to tease, Hayner was certainly in the top five. The reason? He tended to have a short fuse on his anger, so it was always far easier to get a reaction out of him than anyone else. Even Roxas, who was slightly lower on that list than Hayner, didn't act up as much, so Hayner always suited Seifer better.

Seifer was still smirking at Hayner's back as he moved away from the counter and toward the train tracks, as he was thinking of the evil things he could say to the guy once they were on the same shuttle together, but slowly the look started to fade. Hayner was stumbling slightly, making Seifer think that maybe he was under the weather like Rai. As Hayner gave a particularly wide and loud yawn, Seifer's eyes were drawn to the ticket clutched in his hand, before he stuffed it in his pockets. _A train ticket?_ All students had a day pass to get on the shuttle so that they could go to school for free during the year, so then why did Hayner have to buy a ticket?

_Maybe he forgot his pass – whatthehellishedoing?!_ Hayner had just leapt down from the platform, onto the tracks. Seifer jumped up from his own seat, as a reflex when Hayner's body had been sent downward off the platform, watching him uncertainly. _What, has he gone suicidal now? Hoping the effing train'll run him over?_

Seifer walked slowly toward the edge of the platform as Hayner walked away from it, yawning his head off and stepping over the tracks.

_Oh,_ Seifer finally thought to himself at last. _He's going to Huntington. Well, that's weird..._ Was Hayner leaving now, too? Seifer wondered briefly if he was going on a vacation, and he scowled. _Great, now I don't even get to tease that chicken-wuss during break..._ Assuming he was going to be gone for the whole break. _Guess I should get it out now, then, huh?_

Just as Seifer was opening his mouth to shout an insult at Hayner, the younger boy tripped over a railroad track, and was sent sprawling across the tracks, looking like a complete loser as he fell, his hands unable to save him as they were tucked away in his pant pockets. A lady down the platform gasped, and said loudly, "Is he alright?" Seifer however, let out a bark-like laugh, watching Hayner with such a look of cockiness one might have thought Seifer had pushed Hayner down himself.

He put his hands on his hips, smirking down at Hayner, ignoring the looks he got from the same lady who had asked about Hayner's well-being. But Seifer didn't care about her right now – he was too busy gloating over Hayner's current state.

He knew Hayner had heard him laugh, and he knew Hayner was refusing to look up at the platform to see who had laughed. In fact, he was so obviously trying to act like nothing had happened as he bustled around on the ground, dusting himself off and looking down, hiding a slight blush across his face from falling like an oaf, that Seifer had to bite back another laugh.

Hayner was tugging at his pants now, so Seifer stepped forward a bit more, so that his toes hung over the edge of the platform. He grinned, loving his position right now, and opened his mouth to shout: "Hey– "

But the rest of Seifer's shout was drowned out by a loud whistle that bounced off and reverberated around the train station. With his mouth still open and the smirk still on his face, Seifer looked sideways down the tracks, and felt his heart freeze, his breath catching in his throat.

The Huntington Express, the fancy gold lettering on the front shimmering in the sunlight, was blasting down the tracks, puffing steam into the air and heading directly at –

"Hayner!" Seifer shouted, looking forward to see if the boy had noticed the train. This time, too, his words were drowned out by the train's whistle. But Hayner, who was partially raised with his knees bent, only seemed to hear the train the second time, and looked at it slowly, and just keep staring at it, seemingly too paralyzed to move out the way.

Biting his lip, Seifer swore, and, without letting himself second-think what he was about to do, Seifer leapt from the platform, his coat trailing out behind him. The same woman who had glared at him earlier screamed, but Seifer didn't look back. He saw the train creeping closer out of the corner of his eye, and it was only by the rush of adrenaline that he kept running. He kept running, faster than the teenager had ever run before, as he watched Hayner's mouth slowly slip open like he was about to scream, but never making any sound.

Instead, as Seifer was in mid-air, the train only a few meters away from the two, he threw out his arm, catching Hayner around the middle of his torso, and wrapped his other arm around him, as his pure momentum sent them falling back, Seifer feeling the gust of wind threaten to remove his foot as the train went whizzing past.

The two went flying, and finally crashed down onto rough gravel. Seifer hung onto Hayner tightly, swearing internally as he felt a particularly sharp piece of gravel slice into his cheek. They came to a complete stop after skidding about two feet, but still Seifer didn't let go. In fact, he tightened his hold – it was partly from the pain of their landing, and partly because he couldn't believe that had just happened, and the fact that he had actually managed to save Hayner without getting either of them killed, that he hung on so tightly, now.

It took a few seconds for Hayner to move, and it wasn't until he actually stirred, did Seifer allow himself to breathe comfortably again. _For a second there..._ Seifer moved as well, realizing he was partially under the other boy, and then found himself being pulled into a sitting position as Hayner struggled to sit up.

As soon as he felt Hayner rising, Seifer let go with a particularly loud swear word, and rolled away from him, going on his back. He groaned, feeling pieces of gravel fall away from skin of his left arm – the one he had landed on -, and let out a sigh as he sat up as well, using his right arm to support himself. He groaned again, and looked at Hayner, an angry scowl on his face.

Hayner, who looked like he had sustained almost no injuries from the fall, only stared at Seifer as soon as he saw him, his eyes wide and his mouth gaping open. He seemed at a loss for words, so Seifer started the conversation first.

"Jesus f--king Christ, chicken-wuss! Why the hell'd you just look at the train? What, did you think it would magically stop in time to **not** f--king kill you?" Seifer glowered at the speechless Hayner, who just managed to blink at him, until his words sunk it.

"Wh – you – that-..." Hayner stuttered, looking taken aback... Then he just looked insulted at Seifer made a face and mouthed at him, blubbering in an impersonation of Hayner.

"Wuh, wuh, y-you, the tuh-wain was scaw-ey... Jesus Christ," he said again, and brought his hands together, brushing off his dirty palms. "Learn how to f--king talk, would you?"

Hayner filled his cheeks with air in an angry manner, and his shoulders came up, "You, you, you.. !" He was just so mad, he couldn't bring himself to speak properly. Finally, though, he found his voice. "I.. I didn't ask you to save me, you assh-le!" He curled his hands into fists.

"What?" Seifer asked, raising an eyebrow. "Would you rather I hadn't saved you? Sorry – next time I'll do the smart thing and just let you die. My mistake." Yeah – there was no way in hell he'd be saving this punk's life ever again...

Hayner huffed angrily, and growled back, "Half a second later and I would've saved mysel– "

"Half a second later, and you would have been dead."

Stunned into silence again, Hayner didn't have a response for that. He knew that what Seifer said was true, but he'd never admit it – after all, that would be admitting that Seifer was right about something. He just watched as Seifer sighed to himself, then started grumbling as he stood up, dusting his jacket off and pulling his hat back firmly on his head. Hayner heard the whistle of the conductor, and turned around in his spot on the ground to watch an official-looking man running toward them, looking mad.

Hayner looked forward again to push himself up, but noticed a hand floating in front of his face. Seifer's. Hayner looked up, surprised, at Seifer, who was giving him a look.

"... Well, are you going to take it, or not?" Seifer asked smugly, smirking.

Hayner frowned, and stumbled over his words again as he said, "Wha – Oh, yeah..." He looked back at the hand offered to him, but paused. "Your hand's shaking..."

Seifer shrugged and said simply, "Adrenaline. I just jumped in front of a speeding train, after all. Now hurry up and f--king take it."

Hayner nodded slowly. "Right..." His own hand came up to meet Seifer's, but... Seifer pulled his back at the last second and snickered at him.

"Moron," he cackled, tucking both his hands securely into his jacket pockets.

Hayner stared at him for a few more seconds, before his shoulder hunched themselves around his head again, and his face turned positively livid. "You.. b- b-stard..." He seethed, his face turning slightly red from anger and embarrassment at think Seifer – _Seifer ­_– had actually been trying to help him. _Honestly. Jeeze, I must be going crazy... _And so, Hayner pushed himself up from the ground on his own, as Seifer, who was still smirking from his latest stunt, turned to face the conductor who jumped off the platform and onto the gravel.

"What was that?!" The man yelled at them, looking angry. "You boys could have been killed! What the hell were you thinking, playing on the train tracks?!"

"_**Us**_?!" Seifer shrieked back at him, honest to god pissed as hell. "What the hell about you guys?! You should make f--king announcements when a train is coming and f--king make sure no one's on the f--king tracks!"

"Watch your language young man! I have half a mind to never let you on one of these trains again– "

"Oh ho ho, I'd like to see you try, you old geezer!"

Hayner dusted the back of his pants off, and looked away from the conductor and Seifer as they began to battle it out. He ignored them both as he looked up at the train that he had almost been killed by. Judging from the large mark they had left in the gravel, it looked like they had landed mere inches from the wheels. _That.. could have... ended badly..._

Hayner looked at Seifer, who was gesturing with his arms and shouting at the conductor, and frowned, confused. Seifer... saved him. But... why?

Seifer and Hayner had always been sworn enemies, ever since their first meeting in first grade. Well, first grade for Hayner, but second for Seifer. Hayner had been playing with Roxas and Pence, who at that time had been in the grade below him, when Seifer spotted them and made fun of him for playing with younger kids. Hayner, with slight anger issues at even that young age, had challenged him back, calling him a 'Poopy head.'

Well, it was easy enough to say, that, once the 'poopy head' insult came out, there was going to be trouble.

Seifer had then proceeded to push Hayner, who fell back into the sand castle Roxas had been building, causing the smaller boy to start crying. Hayner, angry and upset, had jumped up and pushed Seifer back, who promptly fell into Pence's own castle.

As Roxas and Pence sat off the side, crying and mourning over their destroyed castles, Hayner and Seifer continued to shove each other back and forth until a teacher had run up and separated the two boys, and sent them both to time out with angry tears in their eyes. For the rest of the year, Hayner and Seifer had constant fights, resulting in the drop of their grades in class, and the reason that both boys had been held back a year.

Now, they blamed each other for their less-than-shining academic reports today – even though that didn't really make sense. There was, however, a lasting reminder for both of them that the fight had indeed happened – one of the school pictures in the yearbook from those early elementary school days included a photograph of Hayner and Seifer right before they had started fighting. The teacher had been thinking that they were going to play with each other and the two kindergarteners, so there was a caption underneath the photo that said 'Children from different grades are allowed to mix during snack time.'

If someone didn't know Hayner and Seifer today, they might actually have thought that they were playing. But those who did could already see the little Hayner just starting to develop his hurt/angry look, and there was already a smirk on the face of little Seifer as he wallowed in the anger of the younger Hayner.

Watching him now, Hayner could hardly believe Seifer and him had once been so small. Just like back then, Seifer was taller than him, as Hayner stood at 5'5" and Seifer at 5'8". They were both rather short compared to other boys at school, but Hayner was still shorter than Seifer – something else Seifer liked to constantly taunt him about.

Seifer did still have the same hair and eyes as back then, though. He had always been a remarkably blonde boy, and his eyes had always been the same, bright blue. The scar, however, was something Seifer didn't get until about 8th grade. He had been absent for one day, and then the next he came to school with a large band-aid on his face, and thirteen stitches. A week later, the band-aid had been removed, and the fresh scar was clearly visible. Seifer always told everyone that the mark had been made by a knife fight he had been caught up in, but it always seemed suspicious to Hayner – after all, Twilight Town was a pretty safe town. Who would be wandering around with a knife, looking for a face to cut with it?

Realizing that he was staring at the other boy, Hayner looked over the train, watching it, instead. People were boarding and people were getting off, and he watched them go, his mind wandering. He let himself stand there, relishing the way the small wind was blowing on his face and bare arms, and the way the chatter of people filled the air. He inhaled deeply and held it, closing his eyes, feeling the sun beat down on his bare shoulders...

He could have been dead by this time.

Exhaling, Hayner felt his hands starting to shake, so he clenched them into fists. If Seifer hadn't been there... If Seifer hadn't seen him... If Seifer had been a second too late... He shook his head, taking another deep breath, his eyes clenched tight.

"... And anyway – you're lucky if we don't decide to sue you guys! You should build some sort of walkway so this doesn't happen to anyone else!" Suddenly, one of the same arms that had saved his life was wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him into the body of another. Hayner looked in surprise at Seifer, who was jabbing himself in the chest with his thumb, looking cocky and smug. Hayner turned his head to look at the conductor, who looked angry and flustered, but seemed to have enough fight in him to give them a short lecture on safety, which he forced them to listen to, before he finally let them go.

"Sheesh," Seifer said, flipping off the retreating back of the conductor, before moving away from Hayner and starting to lead the way back to the platform he had so daringly leapt from only minutes before. "What a nutty old geezer."

Hayner stayed put, watching the man go back onto the second platform, and then make the all clear sign, before entering the train and shutting the doors. Seifer, noticing the absence of the kid next to him, turned around and stared at Hayner.

"Hey, chicken wuss," Seifer said suddenly, and Hayner glanced over his shoulder.

"What?" He asked, with a blink.

"Aren't you supposed to be on that train?" Seifer gestured to the train over his shoulder with his thumb, and Hayner blinked again.

"What? ... Oh, d-mn!" He swore, looking at the train. "Yeah, I am– " Hayner began searching through his pockets, swearing again. As he pulled nothing but his wallet from his pants, Hayner frowned. "Where's the godd-mn ticket?!"

Looking around, Hayner finally found it. It was trapped underneath the wheel of the train, with only the corner sticking out.

"D-mnd-mnd-mn," he swore over and over, starting like he was about to move toward it, until a hand came out from behind him and pulled him back by the arm.

"You moron – are you just looking to get killed? 'Cause I swear to god, if that's what you want, I'll be happy to do it for you, you little f--ker!" Seifer looked angrily at him, but Hayner also noticed a bit of color gone from his face as he released Hayner's arm.

"What are you talking about? The train's not even– "

" –moving?" Seifer finished his sentence, pointing at the train again. Hayner blinked and look to it, and then jumped back when he realized it had gone into motion. He groaned loudly, putting his hands on his head.

"Godd-mn, I missed it!" Hayner sent his hands scratching each side of his head, and he groaned loudly, his head bowed. "D-mnd-mnd-mnd-mnd-mn," he swore again and again. "Uuugh, now I've got no where to sleep tonight!"

Hayner froze, and Seifer blinked. "What.. the hell?" Seifer asked, his eyes narrowing. "What the hell do you mean?"

Hayner looked sheepishly over his shoulder as he said, "Uh, well, you see– "

Another train whistle made Hayner jump a foot in the air, and he fell back onto his butt on the gravel, hissing. Seifer just watched him, and then laughed - loudly.

"You're such a baby!" He roared with laughter, and grabbed Hayner by the collar of his vest, pulling him back onto his own two feet.

"Shut up – I am not," Hayner growled, ripping his vest away from Seifer's grasp.

Shaking his head, his face still bright from laughter, Seifer said, "Yeah, sure, whatever you say. Now c'mon – I gotta catch this shuttle-" Seifer pointed at the 3:00 shuttle as it slowed to a stop "-so you're going to have to explain on the way. And I don't want excuses, chicken-wuse," he said harshly as Hayner opened his mouth to argue. "You're coming with me – now." And without waiting for an answer, Seifer started toward the shuttle, knowing Hayner would follow him.

After all, he had just saved his life, right? He owed him.

* * *

I'm wearing a beanie right now, so that I can get more firmly into the mind of Seifer. :D I think he's so angry all the time because these things really start to squeeze your brain after a while...

Please comment! I'll love you forever if you do! ;A;!!

Also, I hope I didn't take Seifer and Hayner out of character... I swore a lot to make it sound more like Seifer – he does that, right? – and Hayner seemed a bit out of it because he almost just died. But their characters will develop over the next few chapters! I promise!

Thanks so much for reading this far. And every time I see the little 'Review' number go up 1, I squeal aloud. Heck, I squeal when the hit number goes up. I'm like, "Has anyone else seen my story? Oh, let's see..." -Number has risen by one, making a totally of 31.- "OHMIGOD. I'M SO LUCKY. ;AAAA;!!"

And thank you to everyone who has reviewed. The encouragement makes me feel so good!! ;A;!!

So, so... I hope I'm doing okay so far! Thank you very muuuuch for reeeeaaading!

Edit: Also, you may be like, "Dude. Hayner and Seifer sound like they hate each other. How can this ever turn into Sayner/Seiner/Sayfer/Heifer/Heiner/Teenagesexonthecarpet?" But, I promise! They won't hate each other foreveeeeerrr... -Wilts.-

Edit2: Sorry if you find any mistakes - I always go back and re-read stuff, and I always find, like, a bajillion mistakes each time. They're never ending! ;A;!!


	3. Living Arrangements

ADSLFJLAKSDJGLKG I love you guys. :3

Lookie! An update! Chapter three, whee-hee!

**Disclaimer:** The disclaimer from the first chapter still stands. :O!!

* * *

\e\x\i\t\ Next Exit /n/e/x/t/

A Kingdom Hearts FanFic by Mayfall

- - - - - - - Chapter Three: Living Arrangements - - - - - - -

* * *

Well this was... awkward.

Frowning, Hayner watched Seifer as he walked away, the end of his coat flapping around the top of his boots. Seifer was digging into his pockets as he walked, looking for his day pass again, as Hayner watched from the opposite side of the tracks, lost in thought over what had just happened, what with his near-death experience and all.

There was the fight between him and his parents... his leaving... the train ticket... the tracks... the actual _train_... and then Seifer, diving off the train platform and saving his life...

Hayner frowned at the shrinking back of Seifer as the taller boy moved away from him. Had it really been Seifer who had saved him? Was this really the same Seifer who had been picking on him all these years? Who had, since second grade, made it his soul duty in life to never let Hayner go a day without an insult? Who had shoved his head in a toilet two years ago? Who had beat him mercilessly in front of the town during a Struggle match? The same one who had snuck a worm into his sandwich just a few weeks ago, and not told him until half the worm was gone?

Suddenly, Seifer looked over his shoulder at Hayner, who was just standing there staring at him, and said, "Hurry up, chicken-wuss. The shuttle's not going to wait for **you**." And with a small sneer, Seifer lifted himself back onto the platform, his day pass found and clutched in his hand.

_... Yup, that's him, alright._ Hayner shuffled his feet slightly, looked to the right and to the left, as if looking for any other direction to head in besides toward Seifer, but gave up on it, and jogged across the tracks, frowning to himself. What was he thinking? _Why do I even need to follow him, anyway? Where're we going to go...?_

Hayner jumped back onto the platform, and moved over to the open, awaiting door of the shuttle.

"Ticket?" the conductor waiting at the door asked, looking down suspiciously at the spiky-haired boy. Hayner just looked up at him blankly, before he realized what the guy was talking about. "Oh," was all he said as he looked down at his pant pockets. "Uh, yeah..."

Seifer laughed harshly from his spot on the one of the seats across from the door, his arms already stretched to their full length across the seat backs, one leg up with his ankle resting on his other knee. Hayner's eyebrows came together as he shot him a look, and Seifer just smirked at him, tilting his head back so that his beanie squished up against the glass. Seifer watched as Hayner's brown eyes scanned his freshly pulled-out wallet, his thin fingers finally pulling out the plastic card that was the student's day pass card. His bristly blonde hair, spiked straight up from his head, receded from Seifer's sight as Hayner looked up at the conductor, and flashed him the day pass. With a nod from the old man, Hayner tucked it back inside his wallet before moving past him into the train, and dropped down into an empty seat next to the door so that he sat across from Seifer.

He felt the air whoosh over his bare shoulders as the door was closed automatically, and looked out the window behind Seifer at the opposite platform of the station, where he had almost be squashed by the Huntington Express. As the shuttle lurched into motion, Hayner frowned, watching the people on the platform descending onto the gravel on the area around the tracks, pulling their luggage after them, pulling small children along by the hand. Hayner watched them through the window even as the shuttle left the station, and Seifer watched him with narrowed eyes, suspicious of the strange expression Hayner was giving the passengers of the Huntington.

He was supposed to be gone on that train right now. He was supposed to be whizzing away from Twilight Town at 40 miles per hour, wondering where to get an apartment. But here he was now, sitting on the same shuttle that he took every day to school, across from one of the jerkiest people he knew, speeding at 15 miles per hour toward... somewhere. He didn't know.

After glancing around the train to make sure no one was watching or paying them any attention, Seifer placed his foot back down on the ground, and leaned forward, his hands coming together to hang over his knees as he looked up at Hayner, his shoulders sagging forward. "Alright, chicken-wuse," Seifer said, causing Hayner's eyes to fill with surprise at being addressed, and to look forward at him. "Explain to me why the hell you almost just got yourself killed."

Hayner frowned. Seifer was, of course, wondering about the circumstances that led to Hayner's being at the train station to be run over in the first place, even though he said it so inelegantly. With a small sigh, Hayner debating not answering, but with a second look to Seifer's scowling face, he let his shoulders drop, and crossed his arms. "Well," he said slowly, "today's the last day of quarter right? And today was my math final, so -"

"- So you failed, like usual." Seifer raised an eyebrow, smirking as Hayner turned slightly red and looked away.

"... Do you want _me_ to tell you the story, or do _you_ want to tell it?"

"I'd love to tell it," Seifer said, leaning back once more, his hands slipping lazily into his jacket pockets. His eyes become half-lidded, and he looked straight at Hayner as he said with a deadpanned voice: "You failed, got kicked out of the school, then got kicked out by your parents, and were on your way to go move to a distant city where you'd start your new life and work at Burger King until your 47, growing yourself a big ol' beer belly in the meantime." Seifer tilted his head, trying and failing to hide a growing smirk. "Sound about right?"

Hayner gritted his teeth back and forth, and his hands curled themselves into fists. "I hate you," he seethed, his face once more turned toward Seifer, his brown eyes livid.

"Oh shut it, chicken-wuss. If I was wrong, feel free to fill in the blanks, then." Quirking another eyebrow, Seifer shifted in his seat. "Go on, loser - tell me why the hell we almost had to scrap you off the train tracks." As much Seifer hated to admit it - and knew he never would aloud - he was **curious** as to why such a mama's boy was so far from home.

Tempted more than ever to keep his peace and not tell Seifer the truth, Hayner looked away until the blue eyes across from him burned holes into side of his head. Finally, he sighed, giving it all up, and started in with his tragic story. "Well, the truth is..."

The sky outside remained clear as they traveled, stretching on for infinity above the heads of the people of Twilight Town as they each went about their daily business. Birds twittered and flew about the Twilight Town shuttle, seemingly about to race it to its destination, until they veered off and slowed down, twittering to themselves and to other birds. As the shuttle rocked back and forth, puttering along the tracks, the ocean came into view over the small, rolling hills, stretching on in an endless abyss of water, the only infraction of this image being a small, miniature island, a little less than a mile out to sea. It was composed mostly of rocks and seagull poo, but there was still a small beach running along the outside of the island, so someone could potentially ride a small boat out to the island and enjoin themselves for a while. As Hayner gave a brief description of what had happened that day to Seifer, the island outside the window caught his eye, and he watched it carefully as they sped along the connecting plateau of land that connected the two sides of Twilight Town. Outside of the window behind Hayner, there ran an adjacent road that cars could drive on, but very few did. The shuttle was just easier, and at this point it was actually cheaper to ride the shuttle both ways than it cost to pay for gas. But if one did drive, it was very easy to park along the edge of the road, and cross the tracks to reach the small, rocky beach that was at the bottom of the hill that the train tracks rested on. As far as Hayner knew, it wasn't much of a beach, and therefore not often used.

As the ocean disappeared once more behind hills, Hayner finished his story of that afternoon's events, ending with a simple, "And... here we are."

Seifer just gave Hayner a look, and responded, "Well, that was stupid of you." Hayner frowned. "I mean," and here Seifer shifted in his seat again, lifting his leg up to rest on the other one, "Christmas is in 13 days - you should've at least stuck around for presents before running away."

Glowering at his lack of sympathy - and sense -, Hayner barked back, "It's not like I'm going to be gone forever, you moron. It's only until they... they..." He frowned. What did he want from them again?

Seifer shook his head, refusing to give him the answer. "Whatever, man. My story was better."

With an eyebrow quirk of his own, Hayner hissed, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Seifer said, looking to the front of the train. "Oh well - you're still going to end up alone as a fat man working at Burger King."

Hayner, his fists shaking, jumped onto his feet right there in the middle of the train, started to yell, "Say that to my face!", but was cut off abruptly after the word 'that', when the train suddenly slowed down as it came into the station, throwing Hayner off balance.

The teenager was sent sprawling onto the dirty carpet floor of the shuttle as Seifer laughed loudly at him, slapping his knee repeatedly. Several adults on the shuttle muttered to themselves about 'teenage hooligans', but both boys ignored them. Hayner scrambled to his feet as Seifer continued to laugh himself silly, unable to believe that had actually happened so perfectly.

Getting up from the ground for the third time that day, Hayner dusted himself off again, disgruntled as he pulled a gum wrapper off his pants.

"You're such a _**klutz**_!" Seifer hooted, whacking Hayner in the back as he stood up, the train ceasing to be in motion. The doors opened and people shuffled out, and Hayner felt a strong hand wrap itself around his arm, pulling him out after the body of a still chuckling Seifer.

x-x-x-x

"Where're we goooing, Seifer?" Hayner whined, following behind the taller boy five minutes later. "Why're we heeere?" Hayner tripped along after Seifer, feeling particularly sore after his last fall. And now they were walking all over Twilight Town. Just like before, he was starting to feel sleep tugging at his brain. He was tired, sore, and had barely escaped from near death, and he didn't exactly want to walk around a stupid town for a long time after all that.

"You wussy," Seifer hissed, leading the way through the shopping district, down toward the Sandlot. Hayner dragged his feet, yawning.

"M'not.. a.. wussyyyy," Hayner yawned, making Seifer shake his head.

"Honestly," he mumbled, moving a bit faster. "Keep up, chicken-wuss, and stop b-tching like a girl."

Down to the Sandlot they went, Hayner whining and yawning the whole way, Seifer stringing along a constant flow of curse words in response to his complaints. Crossing through the center of the raised platform for the Struggle tournaments, Seifer paused in the center of the rink, his hands on his hips, watching Hayner.

Hayner, upon reaching the rink, had looked blankly at it, blinking at it sleepily. Slowly, he lifted his hands onto the raised concrete, spreading his fingers wide. He continued to look at the ground as he moved his leg up, his knee coming over the edge. With only one leg left on the ground, he started to push himself up slowly, still staring blankly at the ground, his mouth slightly open from pure tiredness. He lifted himself up incredibly slowly, his arms shaking underneath his body weight. For a minute, it look like he was going to make it, and that his other leg would come up onto the platform and support him, until... with no warning at all, Hayner pitched forward, his arms giving out, sending his face into concrete.

...

Seifer just stood there and watched as Hayner, silently, dragged his corpse across the concrete without even lifting his head, his arms flat and gripping on the raised ground. His legs shifted uselessly behind him, getting no traction, but making him look like a fool as they flailed out behind him. He squiggled like a worm across the ground, his hips waving back and forth, his chin aiding in pulling himself forward. He moved in bursts, his arms pulling him forward, stopping, going back, and pulling again. Seifer raised yet another eyebrow as he watched Hayner's trek across the ground, unable to know what to make of the pathetic display.

Finally, both of Hayner's legs made it fully into the rink, and he pushed himself onto his knees, his butt sticking up in the air. Then his hands pushed him up, and finally he managed to heave himself to a standing position, the sides of his arms and his chin slightly red. He looked at Seifer, as if challenging him to say anything about the way Hayner had just dragged himself across the ground.

Seifer, blinking, simply turned his back, and crossed the rest of the rink in five big steps, and jumped off onto the ground Hayner had just worked so hard to leave behind. He turned back around to look at Hayner, and gestured to the ground. Hayner, looking both hateful and exhausted, simply hung his head, and limped toward the edge of the rink, mumbling curse words under his breath.

_All for nothing... Mother f-cker..._

Once Hayner had jumped off the platform, stumbled slightly, then finally regained control of his motor functions, they had set off the last few feet toward a building, and Seifer pulled open the door, sliding through and pushing it open enough that Hayner could stumbled past it before it closed. "Where'rewe?" Hayner asked, yawning, combining his words.

"Stop asking that," Seifer mumbled, leading the way into a large hallway through the ground floor of the building. The hall was a large, open space, with walls of glass that pointed to the outside. The walkway turned into a breif gravel pathway, winding through a miniature atrium, with benches and plants decorating the space. There was a fountain off to the side, spraying water straight into the air, until it fell down into an awaiting basin around it.

Hayner gaped openly at the space, and looked at Seifer, waiting to see his reaction. Seifer, however, looked unimpressed, and just walked through it like there was nothing special about the area. He walked straight ahead, until he was forced to spot as they reached another large pair of doors. Over the glass doors - currently glaring from the sunlight so that Hayner couldn't see out - there was a sign reading 'Twilight Town College District'.

"The college district?" Hayner yawned. "Why're we here?"

"I live here," Seifer finally explained, stepping up to the doors.

Hayner's eyes widened mid-yawn, and he said, "You do?!" He thought Seifer lived where everybody else did, in the residential area.

Seifer nodded, "Duh, just said that, chicken-wuss." Pushing on the bar that ran along the door, Seifer looked over his shoulder, and said, "Prepare yourself."

Hayner blinked, and was just about to question him about what he meant, until the doors suddenly fell away, and Hayner was so taken aback that he fell into silence.

Both boys were suddenly blasted by an extreme level of sounds, smells, and sights as they stepped outside. People were flocking about the long, cobble-stoned street ahead of them, talking and laughing and eating hotdogs from street venders, music echoing around the buildings that lined the streets. A nearby jazz band had set themselves up near the building that Seifer and Hayner walked out of, the trumpet player's trumpet glowing in the light from a photographer's camera flash. Both people were obviously students, as were almost all of the rest of the people on the street. Couples and groups passed by, coins slipping from their fingers as they passed the open guitar case in front of the band. It was like a carnival, bathed in the afternoon's sunlight, the happy people moving from store to store, clutching purchases and coffee cups.

_It's like a new world,_ Hayner thought, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. As it was a Friday afternoon after classes, almost all of the college students had hit the streets to celebrate their freedom. Seifer, apparently unsurprised by all the going-ons, took hold of the gaping Hayner's arm again, pulling him past the band. For now, Hayner allowed himself to be led, too busy looking every which way to really be walking without aid, anyway.

Between a coffee house and a bookstore, a half a dozen college students had set up canvases and easels, and were either sketching or painting the street scenes before them. Hayner turned his head quickly to see a pair of people duck into a bar, and as the door closed a puff of cigarette smoke leaked out into the sunlight. Twisting to look over his shoulder, Hayner watched a pair of girls enter a Christmas shop, purses hanging from their elbows. Looking forward again, Hayner called to Seifer, "Is there a carnival or something in town?"

"What?" Seifer shouted unable to hear him over the music. Hayner found himself being pulled forward against Seifer as they passed through a throng of people. "What did you say?" Seifer repeated, looking to Hayner as he fell into step next to him.

"Is there some sort of event going on?" Hayner asked, looking around before them, feeling his shoulder repeatedly bump against Seifer's.

Seifer blinked, and looked at him through the corner of his eye. "What do you mean? Does it look like there's one going on?" He asked it sarcastically, so he was surprised when Hayner nodded fervently.

"Uh, kinda," Hayner said, watching a group of people waiting in line for what looked like a stand that was piercing people in any place they requested.

"It's always like this," Seifer explained with a shrug. Hayner shook his head incredulously as another pair of people passed them, one with a vibrant Mohawk, the other one smoking an odd cigar.

x-x-x-x

After leading Hayner all the way down the street, Seifer turned toward a large building at the very end of the street, several stories tall. "An apartment building?" Hayner asked, as Seifer held the door for him. "You live in an apartment?"

"You got a problem with that?" Seifer barked back at him, bumping shoulders with him again as he moved toward the stairs. Hayner, rubbing his shoulder, walked after him, and quickly **into **him, as the taller of the two came to a sudden stop.

"Hey, what the - " Hayner's question was answered before he even asked it, as he looked around Seifer and saw a short, angry woman standing in front of them, waving her fist at Seifer. She looked to be about four feet tall, with more width than height. She had the most hideously mousy hair pulled up on top of her head, exposing a wrinkly, and yet bulgy neck. Hayner blinked. _What the-?! What is she; Seifer's girlfriend?_

Hayner had to throw a hand over his face to keep from laughing.

The gray-haired old woman looked furious as she waved her bony fist at Seifer, her wide girth wiggling under a greasy apron. "Where's my rent, Almasy?! It's already been a month!"

"Chill, Mrs. Jones!" Seifer held his hands in a defensive manner, looking flustered. "I'll get you you're money soon - just calm down, woman! You'll give yourself a f-cking heart attack!"

"You calm down and get me my money so I can pay for my surgeries after my heart attack, you ingrate!" Mrs. Jones poked Seifer harshly in the abs with one of her bony fingers as she talked, surely leaving a bruise. "And don't use such language around a lady!"

"Calm down, grandma," Seifer hissed, taking a step away from her. "You'll get your money when you get it." And with that, Seifer moved toward the door leading to the stairs, ignoring Mrs. Jones' angry calls that followed him.

Hayner, trying to avoid any eye contact with the scary woman, hastened after Seifer, but was abruptly stopped as five, cold-as-ice fingers closed around his arm, and he found himself being pulled down to look into the face of the frightful woman. Her gray eyes made him shiver, and she screeched, "And what is this, Seifer?" _'What'?_ Hayner thought to himself. _I'm a person, you ugly old bat..._ Hayner felt a rush of hatred toward the scary old woman.

"Hey!" Seifer yelled, and pulled Hayner away from the bat woman with a tug. "None of your business, you old croon!" Seifer shoved Hayner before him, and Hayner heard Mrs. Jones yell some more as they made their get away. Any sound she was still making, however. was cut off seconds later as the door to the stairs was closed - or was rather slammed - by Seifer. "Crazy old lady," he sighed, moving past Hayner.

On the threshold of the stairs, Seifer glanced over his shoulder. "Hey - you okay?" He asked, spotting Hayner looking over his arm where Mrs. Jones had grabbed him. "Sometimes meeting the devil herself can frighten some people."

"She left a scratch," Hayner mumbled, and looked up, frowning with his lower lip. "She was scary," he said quietly.

"Tell me about it," Seifer said, looking forward and starting up the stairs. "She's one hell of a penny pincher, too. She once turned off my air conditioning for a week because I was late on paying for it. What a hag," he mumbled to himself.

As Seifer took the stairs two at a time, Hayner rushed after him, his feet pounding after Seifer's own, calm strides. _Is there what Seifer comes home to everyday?_ Hayner frowned. It almost made Seifer look human... Almost.

After four flights of stairs, Seifer peeled off from the concrete steps, and went to the door of the fourth floor. He pushed it open, and held it open for Hayner, but... Hayner wasn't behind him. Seifer blinked, and waited another moment. After waiting several seconds, Seifer looked around the door, looking for Hayner. Finally, he watched as Hayner's head slowly appeared over the top of the stairs, as the boy himself wheezed and grunted as he pulled himself up each stair. Seifer blinked, watching Hayner limp past him like he was some sort of war-torn, injured soldier.

"... You've really got to get into shape, there, chicken-wuss."

"Shutthehellup," Hayner wheezed, leaning forward onto his knees, panting like he was fresh off a marathon.

With a chuckle, Seifer closed the door, and started down the new hallway, hearing Hayner groan at the idea of walking anymore.

"Are we almost there?" He called, limping down the hall, one hand on his lower back to support himself. "I don't think I can hold on much longer..."

"Ahw, shuddit. We're here now, you doofus." Seifer's apartment was located at the very end of the hallway - number 413. He wiggled the knob, and took a thankful breath when it remained locked. _Well, at least no one stole my stuff..._

Whipping out the key from his jacket pocket, he had the door unlocked by the time Hyaner dragged his sorry self to the doorway.

"So this is where you live?" Seifer looked down at Hayner as he leaned against the wall, a hand on his forehead like he had a headache from all the physical activity.

"Seriously, you have to get in shape." Seifer hid a grin as Hayner shot him a nasty look, and pushed the door open. "And, yeah. This is my home sweet home."

Seifer pushed the door open, and it swung away from him easily, revealing a surprisingly large room. Seifer walked in, dropping his room key on the table by the door, as Hayner swung around the doorframe, and entered Seifer's apartment, closing the door behind him upon Seifer's request.

The room they were in right now looked like a living room, with a large couch in the center of the room, a table in front of that, and a TV on a small coffee table against the wall across from it. As Hayner walked in a bit further, he saw the room opened up to the left into a small kitchen with an island - like countertop on wheels, but with cupboards built into it - and an electric stove near the sink. A large fridge sat clunking in-between wall cabinets, which were spread all along the walls, until the wall broke into a hallway leading down into an area Hayner couldn't see from his position.

Hayner had been expecting the apartment to be messy, considering it was _Seifer_, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Clothes were piled on the couch, and he could see some dishes starting to stack up, but other than a few other dust surfaces and more clothes thrown around - how did Seifer even own so many? -, he was impressed with how clean Seifer kept it.

"Wow," Hayner said quietly. Seifer looked at him, ready to ask what he was 'wow'ing about, when Hayner suddenly exclaimed, "It's not as bad as I thought it would be!"

Seifer walked over to the grinning Hayner, looked at him silently for a second, and then punched him in the arm.

"Ow! Whatthehell?!" Hayner swore, grabbing his arm. "What the f-ck?!"

"You can go now," Seifer hissed abruptly, turning away, and Hayner frowned.

"G-Go?" He asked. _What.. does he mean?! _He let go of his arm for right now, and looked at Seifer. "I... walked all this way so that you.. could tell me to f-ck off?"

Seifer nodded, moving to a cupboard on the wall. "Pretty much," he said. Seifer opened the pantry door, withdrew a cup, and quickly filled it full of water from the sink. After downing a few gulps, Seifer released an 'Ah', and then explained, "I only needed you to come so that if there were any robbers here, I could try and see if they'd leave my TV if I gave them you instead." And he took another sip, leaning against the counter.

So what if that was a downright lie? The real reason he had brought him was because he had wanted to hear his story, and, after the event at the train station, he wanted to make sure Hayner was alright. And he sure seemed to be back to himself, the way his anger was returning to him. So, rather than tell him that on some level Seifer did care about him, he lied, instead, making it sound like he just wanted to piss him off. _It's worth it to see him get that mad,_ Seifer thought smugly, watching Hayner's face turn different colors with his rage.

"You, you... How.. You..." Hayner's fists had curled in on themselves again, and he actually looked like he was ready to return Seifer's punch to him. After taking several more sips of water, Seifer shook his head.

"Why did you think you were _here_, anyway?" Seifer tilted his head back and forth to crack his neck, and placed his water glass down on the counter next to him. "Why did you think I brought you here?" It was an honest question - again, he was curious about what Hayner had been thinking.

Hayner sputtered in disbelief when he realized Seifer was sincerely asking. "Well, well," he said quickly, "isn't it obvious? I mean, it's your fault I don't have anywhere to sleep for the next two nights!" Seifer's eyebrows shot up into his beanie as his eyes widened, and he adapted a surprised look. _What the hell is he talking about?! Does.. does he mean... No, he couldn't..._ "After all," Hayner continued, unable to read Seifer's expression past 'surprised', and therefore had no idea what he was thinking about, "if someone hadn't tackled me and made me drop my ticket -"

"_**Excuse me?!**_" Seifer shouted, making Hayner wince a little. "If I hadn't saved you, they'd be burying you with pieces of your ticket imbedded in your skin!" Seifer looked seriously pissed...

"Wha- ? ... Oh, d-mn, I forgot," Hayner mumbled to himself, and looked sheepishly at Seifer. Seifer... had saved his life, hadn't he? _Haha... Oops._ "R-Right... T-The whole, whole life-saving thing, right..." He scratched the side of his face idly. "Uh, uh, right..." As Seifer gave him the most obvious 'how-dumb-can-you-possible-be?' look, Hayner shrugged. "I forgot - Jesus Christ, so sue me."

Seifer wanted to hit him again, but he resisted it, shaking his head. "You're a moron, chicken-wuss." Hayner scoffed, but didn't say anything about it this time.

Moving away from the kitchen, leaving his glass of water on the countertop, Seifer walked toward a door near the front door - the hall closet. "So what do you want me to do about it, anyway? Why don't you just go back home, crying to mommy to let you come home?"

"Seifer!" Hayner exclaimed suddenly, and Seifer turned away from the closet he had been about to open.

"What?" He asked, irritated.

"Seifer," - Hayner took a step forward toward him, making Seifer quirk another eyebrow - "I can't go back there. They practically threw me out, and I've only been gone for an hour!" Hayner shook his head, suddenly intent on getting his meaning out the best he could. "Come on - Can't I just stay here for two nights, and then I'll take the train and get myself my own apartment for the rest of Winter Break?"

Seifer frowned. "Why don't you just stay at one of your nerdy friends' house?" Seifer turned toward the closet again, but Hayner stopped him with another exclamation.

"I can't! They're all.. away this break!" He hesitated only slightly, but luckily it was short enough that Seifer - who noticed it - didn't call him on it.

"Away?" He repeated, looking skeptical.

"Away," Hayner confirmed.

Seifer shook his head, once more reaching for the closet door, saying, "Even if I wanted to let you stay here - which," he said over his shoulder, "let's clarify that _I don't_ - I've got nowhere to put you. Where do you suggest you sleep? No way in hell you get my bed, and the couch doesn't need your sleep drool in it, and the carpet's so disgusting I wouldn't let my worst enemy sleep there - namely you -, or put my quilts on that disgusting thing. So unless you come up with a bed somehow," Seifer turned the knob of the hallway closet, opening it, "there's no way in hell you'll get to sleep here."

KUH-klunk!

With a swearword, Seifer took a step forward - having jumped back a foot when a large object had come plowing out of his closet -, and kicked the rectangular package that had just fallen, narrowly avoiding Seifer's head.

"What the hell is that?" Hayner asked, running forward. Even though he had been so far away when it fell, his heart was beating quickly just from the shock of the huge noise it made.

Looking first at the thing on the floor, then at Hayner, then back at the large object, Seifer quickly squeaked, "Oh - it's nothing, nothing - !" Before Hayner had scooped it out of Seifer's reach, and flipped it over.

On the other side, Hayner read aloud from the label, even as Seifer howled to let him back: "'Child-Sized Cot. Fold out bed, great for camping, sleepovers, or guestrooms. Holds approximately 200 pounds.'" Hayner looked up, grinning evilly at Seifer. "A fold out bed? Why thank you Seifer - I accept."

"You loser," Seifer spat back at him, grabbing the cot. "Listen you, why should I even let you stay here? If you hadn't noticed, I kind of make it my duty to make sure you're miserable at all times! So why do you think that I would even let you spend one, f-ckin' night, sleeping in the same f-ckin' apartment as me? Huh? _Huh?!"_

"I'll help you pay your rent."

"Sounds good." Seifer threw the cot down on the ground. "You get to sleep in the living room - and it's only for the next two nights, and then you're getting on that train."

Hayner nodded, grinning, unable to believe how easy that had been. "Deal!"

"And that's not all." Seifer poked the cot with the edge of his boot, sending it slightly across the dark blue, speckled carpet. "You have to pay for any food you eat."

"No problem!" Hayner bent forward, still grinning, to pick up the cot.

But Seifer's foot came down on it. "And if you snore, and I can hear you from my room, I won't hesitate to throw you out in the middle of the night."

With a shove, Hayner removed Seifer's foot from the folded-up cot's package, and stood up with it - it was fairly light. "Don't worry," he said, carrying the cot over near the window. "I've never been told I snore -"

"- because you still sleep in the same room as your parents?" Seifer cackled, and Hayner gave him the dignified response of a nasty look.

"Stupid," he mumbled, dropping the cot on the ground, and moving to pull it out of its package.

As Hayner set to work of unfolding his bed, Seifer went to the couch to move some clothes aside so he could sit down. After a few moments of silence, with little blurbs of curse words from Hayner as he struggled to figure out how to unfold the bed, finally Hayner got it upright and standing on its own three bars. It was like a metal frame the size of a small single bed, with springs holding a sort of tarp in the center, which was clearly the thing the person would sleep on. Six legs came down from the metal frame, each in pairs with three on one side and three across from them on the other side, that became conjoined with their pair at the floor, making a solid pole run along parallel on the ground, three in all.

Hayner stood back to admire his handiwork, and then nodded with a satisfied grin. "Alright!" He looked over his should at Seifer.

Seifer was hastily folding clothes, and throwing them onto a sloppy pile forming on one half of the couch, but upon hearing Hayner say something other than a curse word, he looked up.

"Oh.. Lookie there." Seifer stood up straight and walked over to stand next to Hayner and look at the fold-up bed as well. "Looks pretty d-mn... cr-ppy. Ha," he said in response to a shove from Hayner, smirking slightly. "But it's supposed to look like that, so I guess you did it right." Looking suddenly serious, Seifer tilted his head and murmured, "Hard to believe I used to sleep on that d-mn thing every night when I was little... Ah well," he said, turning back to the couch.

Hayner moved over to a piece of cloth-covered foam, that obviously served as the mattress. He dropped it on top, straightened it, and then sat on the edge of the cot tentatively. "Ah!" He said when it didn't fall down. "Haha, it works!"

"What - did you think it wasn't meant to be sit on?" Seifer rolled his eyes, finishing up with folding the clothes.

Hayner scoffed, and then paused. "Oh, hey..." Seifer turned his head in the general direction of Hayner to show he was listening, but kept his eyes down at what he was doing. "Where're your parents, anyway? Will they be okay with me sleeping here?" Because there was no way Seifer could be living here alone - right? He wasn't that old yet... He wasn't even out of high school yet. And in that case, wouldn't they be less than thrilled to come home and find themselves with a new roommate?

"Uhn," Seifer grunted, lifting up the pile of clothes now. "They shouldn't mind - they don't live here, anyway, so why would they give a cr-p?"

"What?!" Hayner's mouth dropped open, and he said, "What do you mean? You live here alone?"

"Kinda," Seifer said at last, after giving Hayner a strange look over his pile of clothes. He moved over to the hallway down which Hayner could only assume Seifer's room and the bathroom were.

"But, but," Hayner called after him. "Then where are your parents?"

"Look!" Seifer shouted, making Hayner jump and causing the cot to shake unsteadily. "I don't think our agreement included the 'Ask As Many Questions As You Want' clause. So shut the f-ck up, alright? Jesus..." He grumbled to himself all the way down the hall, until Hayner heard a door open. Then, as he frowned to himself, he heard a high-pitched voice from the next room, mocking him thusly: "Where're you parents? Why do my parents hate me? Why am I such a sissy? Tell me, Seiffy, oh do tell! Jesus F-cking Christ." The door slammed, and Seifer walked back out, still scoffing, and Hayner gave him a dry look.

"Anyway," Seifer said, crossing back to the hall closet, and opening the door. He shed himself of his coat, including the vest, and hung it up on a hook in the closet. Hayner just rose his eyebrows at the well-tanned back Seifer had turned toward him. "You get to sleep, you pansy, and I'll wake you up in time for dinner." Reaching up, Seifer grabbed a pillow from the top shelf of the closet, and tossed it to Hayner without watching to make sure he caught it. Hayner fumbled with it, and almost dropped it, but kept it from hitting the floor in the end.

Then Seifer reached up and grabbed a quilt near where the pillow had been, and threw that, as well. This time, as Hayner held out his arms to catch it, he misjudged its speed, and it ended up plowing into him, sending him falling back onto the cot, the quilt on his face.

"Mnft," Hayner growled, sitting up. He looked at Seifer to glare at him, noting the new shirt Seifer had shoved over his head. "You didn't have to throw it so hard."

"Right - forgot you were such a wuss that a blanket could hurt you." Seifer just raised yet another eyebrow to the look Hayner gave him, and dropped his body down onto the couch, reaching for the remote on the table between the couch and the TV.

"Now go to sleep," he ordered, lifting his feet up onto the table, and turning the television on.

Hayner, who had been fixing his bed, looked over at Seifer with a scoff. "What - just like that?" Seifer glanced at him, then back at the TV with a nod. "I can't just go to sleep, just like that."

"Try," Seifer suggested, getting off the couch, the remote still in hand, and walked over to Hayner. Hayner blinked at him, and Seifer blinked back. Then, Seifer leaned forward and shoved Hayner roughly onto the bed as the other boy let out a startled cry, before walking away toward the kitchen.

"Whatthehell," Hayner snarled, sitting up and kicking his shoes off in anger. "You jerk." Then he fell back into bed and covered himself with the quilt, turning his back on Seifer as the taller boy opened the fridge, and pulled out a soda. "Expecting me to just go to sleep like that..." he mumbled, knowing full well he had done it loud enough so that Seifer could hear him

"Shut up and quit your whining, or I'll throw you out, you - " Seifer paused, and stared at Hayner's back. He stood there for a second, staring at the spiky head that stuck out from under the quilt. He popped his soda open with his thumb, and walked over to the couch, glancing at the television that was blaring a commercial for the Food Network. He shook his head, and sat down on the couch, flipping through channels while sipping his Coke.

"Jerk's already asleep," he mumbled, as Hayner's even breathing sounded quietly from the corner.

Oh well. As soon as he remembered that cot in the closet - that fell almost every time he opened the door due to its not fitting in correctly-, he knew Hayner would be staying with him. And, hey - he got someone else to pay his rent for a while. It wouldn't be all bad, right? And, as much as Seifer enjoyed to tease Hayner, he didn't actual _hate_ him. He actually considered him to be a sort of friend; just one that he always made miserable... And, again, it was only two nights.

_What could happen? _Seifer thought to himself, taking another sip of his soda, his feet moving to prop themselves up on the coffee table.

* * *

This one took a while to write. -o-; Nothing really exciting happened, I know, except you got to read a few examples of how bad it is when my jokes flop. Sorry for that. DD:

This one was kind of boring, I know, and I'll work hard to try and make the next one at least a little more exciting... I'm trying, but it's a little hard. DD:

Push the little review button, and give me constructive criticism? Maybe you had a bad day, and you hate this story, and you just want to tell me how much it sucks? Go for it. D;

Or maybe you want to tell me that it'll (hopefully) get better! Whee! :D

Either waaaay... puh-lease review? Drop me a line, and any ideas you have to make it better..

And there's love-y stuff coming up soon, I swear. e--e;;

Edit: I changed the part where Seifer's like: "I only brought you so they wouldn't take my TV, blahblah" after **Windseeker2305** pointed out that I didn't really explain the real reason Seifer brought Hayner with him. Thank you, and I hope it makes more sense now!! 8D!!


	4. Seifer, No Swiping!

**Thanksforthereviews,Iloveyouguys! Andsorryaboutthelongwait!**

**Disclaimer:** The disclaimer from the first chapter still stands. :O!! Also, I don't own House. M'kay.

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\e\x\i\t\ Next Exit /n/e/x/t/

A Kingdom Hearts FanFic by Mayfall

- - - - - - - Chapter Four: Seifer, No Swiping! ... Aw, man... - - - - - - -

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It was dark. And then - two dots of lights. He blinked, shielding his eyes. He could hear the wheels turning; the fast-paced 'chu-chu-chu' sounded like something out of a children's movie to him. The train was moving toward him and would surely crash into him, but he couldn't bring himself to move his feet. It was either from the fact that he was too scared, or that he was curious about what would happen if the train actually hit him, that he couldn't bring himself to move his feet. Instead, he just watched the train grow closer and closer, unable to decide his next course of action - and was frankly starting to feel he should just stay there -, until a voice rang out to his right.

"Hayner!" With a jolt, Hayner turned away from the train and looked to the side to see a figure running toward him. And not just any figure.

"S-Seifer?" He called back uncertainly to him, watching his sprinting grow closer. Hayner started to turn toward him, but felt his foot slip in-between the train tracks, halting his progress. He stumbled, now firmly stuck.

"Hayner!" Seifer called again, his arm outstretched toward him.

He was starting to feel anxiety rush up in his stomach. He didn't want to die now! He had to get to Seifer! Reaching toward him as well, Hayner opened his mouth once more to call back at him. _Seifer! Seifer! Seifer! _He repeated his name over and over as he pulled uselessly at his leg, hearing the train get ever closer, and watched as Seifer managed to get within feet of the track. But just as their fingertips brushed, his felt himself falling backwards into oblivion -

"Hayner!"

- Until his head connected with _very_solid ground, and Hayner let out a strangled yell. "F--k!" He cried, his head jerking backward, as his limbs flailed about, now tangled in the quilt on his cot.

As he quickly figured out, the bar underneath his head had collapsed, causing the top third of the cot to fall to the ground, his head and shoulders following it. With all his struggling, Hayner had even managed to make the other bar slip out from under the bed, thus causing his feet to slam down on the ground as well. The middle bar, however, stayed strong, meaning that while his head and feet were ground level, his lower torso and hips were uplifted above his head... The whole situation was already causing him some back problems.

Hayner's head bounced back to look for the source of his fall, and he immediately found himself staring straight into Seifer's face – Seifer's incredibly _close face_. He was looking down at Hayner, both of his eyebrows up, but one at more of an angle, bending over him so that there were only a few inches of distance between their two faces. Hayner froze suddenly, unsure as to why he suddenly found himself embarrassed at being so close to Seifer.

Seifer just looked down at Hayner curiously, with a smirk playing on his lips. Hayner found his face growing warm while he looked into Seifer's amazingly blue eyes, and had to ask himself **why **he felt so embarrassed and awkward... Just as he was starting to connect his new feelings to his dream, Seifer stood up, breaking the moment.

"Huh," he said carelessly, spinning the soda in his hand around in a circle to stir the liquid mindlessly, "that worked better than I thought it would." He tapped the frame of the cot with his foot, and Hayner noticed he had taken off his boots, and was now just wearing socks.

Sipping his soda, Seifer stepped away from the head of the cot, and instead went around to the side, and peered curiously at Hayner's position. As Hayner attempted to raise his anger levels enough to get past his embarrassment and retort the fact that Seifer had been the one to cause his discomfort, Seifer blinked at Hayner's midsection. Lowering the soda from his lips, his other hand stretched out toward Hayner, his index finger sticking out. Hayner, confused, lifted his head enough to make eye contact with Seifer, who was looking at him with an unreadable, emotionless expression.

"…What?" Hayner finally asked. Was he showing indecent exposure and Seifer was being 'kind' enough to point it out? He shifted slightly, feeling his belt still securely in place on his camo pants. If that wasn't it, then what -

Suddenly, Seifer looked back at his waist, and poked him – hard – in the side. Hayer bucked up, his arms going to his waist as he squeaked, "Seifer!" in an attempt to sound angry with him, but only sounding like a girl. He clutched his side, hissing as Seifer moved away, a fresh smirk lighting up his face. As he turned his back and started toward the kitchen again, Seifer heard a creak and a loud 'BANG!', followed by a series of curse-words from the smaller blonde.

"Language, Chicken-wuss." He looked smugly over his shoulder, watching Hayner roll off the cot – the middle bar now on the ground with the other two, and onto the carpet, grumbling and swearing. For some reason he just couldn't stop grinning as he looked away from Hayner, so he placed the soda can over his mouth to hide his expression. It was so funny to see Hayner fall for all of his pranks and even create worse situations for himself like this... And he could have sworn that Hayner was blushing earlier, but why he would have been, Seifer didn't know…

"What the hell was that for?" Hayner complained, pushing himself off the ground, unable to hide the whine in his voice. He heard Seifer snicker into his soda, and swore internally. _Way to make an idiot of yourself, Hayner…_He tossed his head to push the few strands of hair in his face out of the way, and looked to Seifer as he rounded the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Because – I was curious." He took another sip of his soda, enjoying the stupid face Hayner made in response to his unhelpful answer.

"Curious about what?" Hayner barked. _Curious to see how loud I'd shout? Or maybe what swearword I would use?_

Seifer raised an eyebrow, and gave Hayner this cocky-as-hell smile, and finally explained, "Because when you poke someone in the side like that, they make their sex noise." As Hayner sputtered in disbelief and started to turn faintly red again (as he realized exactly what noise he had made), Seifer turned his back to hide a growing grin, and said over his shoulder, "Glad to know it sounds just like my name."

"Y-You," Hayner stuttered, shaking his head, praying the red in his cheeks would die down. It was Seifer! Seifer! What the hell did he care?! He didn't care what Seifer thought! He didn't! "You.. you pervert!" Hayner barked at last, his arms still wrapped around his waist; it had hurt a lot!

"Really now," Seifer said, motioning with his hand for Hayner to follow him into the kitchen – which he did, only slightly reluctantly. "Is that anyway to thank the person who made you dinner?"

"Dinner?" Hayner repeated questioningly, realizing with a jolt how hungry he was. "I thought I was going to have to pay for my meals?" He scooted past Seifer as the taller boy got down two bowls from one of the wall cupboards, and used a nearby cloth to open the lid of a pot on the stove, his injury forgotten. He looked down at what was unmistakably beef stew with beans and celery, and took a deep breath. _What d'ya know, it actually smells…good!_

"Yeah, well," Seifer grumbled setting the bowls down on the counter, "I tried to wake you up earlier to go buy yourself something, but you wouldn't get up. So I just made us this for tonight. Consider it a one-time thing!" He barked, slapping Hayner's hand away as he reached toward the loaf of bread Seifer put on the counter. "And go get your own water, milk, or whatever – the cups're over there."

As Hayner rubbed his hand, he slipped past Seifer to grab his milk, and then went to sit down at one of the chairs that were dragged up next to the island countertop in the center of the room – that clearly served as a kitchen table, as well – and sat himself down. Seifer, with a grumble at having to serve someone else, served a helping of the stew into each of the bowls, and slid one across the counter to Hayner.

Hayner picked up the spoon he was given, and Seifer walked around with his own bowl, with a plate of toast in the other hand. "Bon appetite-o," Seifer said casually, messing up the French and putting the plate of bread between them and sitting down next to Hayner. Hayner shifted slightly, feeling uncomfortable, and mumbled, "Thank you."

"Whatever," Seifer said back, and began eating, blowing air each time he raised the spoon to his mouth. Hayner followed suit, blowing on the steaming spoonful before putting the first bite of food in his mouth.

"Wow!" He suddenly exclaimed, and a put a hand over his mouth so that he could talk without spraying food everywhere. "This is actually good!"

"You just keep getting surprised at me, Chicken-wuss," Seifer said, raising an eyebrow. "What – did you think I was as incompetent and as big of a slob as you?" He ate another bite of stew, and reached for a slice of bread as Hayner glared at him through the corner of his eye, chewing furiously.

He swallowed, but let it go. Instead, he glanced around them and asked, "How long have you been living here, anyway?"

Seifer chewed his own food thoughtfully, and said slowly, "Well... It's been since I was sixteen, so... a little over two years?" he estimated, swallowing his mouthful.

"Two years?!" Hayner exclaimed, and accidentally dropped his fork from the surprise, sending it clattering against his bowl. Seifer gave him a look, so Hayner quickly busied himself with grabbing a napkin off a nearby stack and cleaning up the small amount of food that had spilled. As he wiped it off, Hayner asked curiously, "Why have you been living alone for so long?"

Seifer shrugged. "No real reason," he said, trying to sound casual, but Hayner saw his face darken. "Just... felt like moving out a little early, that's all..."

"Huh," Hayner said, thinking it over. There was something Seifer wasn't telling him... And he was going to find out what. _But when?_ Well, as soon as he could. _But for right now, I'll let him keep it a secret... _He owed him a little bit of privacy, after all he had done for him. But he wouldn't forget this. He would find out, for sure.

Because he was nosy like that.

And thus dinner continued, with talk swapping between the two periodically, with topics ranging from the weather to sports to talk about Huntington, and they even discussed school for a while before both decided that it was making them feel ill, and they moved on. Finally, dinner was winding down, after second helpings from both boys, with Seifer finishing only a few bites ahead of Hayner.

As Seifer scooped up the last of his stew into his soup spoon, he sent a sideways glance at Hayner. So this was his new roommate for the next two days? Hayner spooned some more stew into his mouth and chewed while looking around the kitchen. It wouldn't be all bad, right? Usually, he and Hayner fought upon sight of each other, but so far they had managed to keep the Struggle bats out of their small arguments – at least, for now. But still, Seifer kind of enjoyed teasing Hayner and making him angry... He really did give such great reactions that it was always worth it...

And, as he was emptying the last few pieces of his dinner into his mouth, Seifer was struck with another idea for teasing him – after all, it was this delicious stew for dinner, and a bit of peeved Hayner for dessert.

Grinning evilly as he finished eating, Seifer waited until Hayner had put his own spoon in his mouth before he asked, "So, when you do end up getting some tail – and internet pornos don't count, Chicken-wuss – you be sure to tell me how well it goes when you say my name, okay?" He was, of course, referring back to the earlier 'sex noise' joke he had made.

Hayner choked on his last bite of food, and thumped his fist on the table as Seifer snickered next to him, standing up. "Seifer!" He managed to choke out, after swallowing some milk.

"Yeah – just like that." Seifer laughed, putting his bowl in the sink. Hayner, behind him, was slowly starting to turn red, and had to put his head down on the table so that Seifer wouldn't see. He frowned into the countertop, feeling embarrassed – and now confused at to why this conversation was making him feel so... so... He could think of the word.

"By the way, Chicken-wuss," Seifer said as he walked toward the living-room, flicking the back of Hayner's head with his finger when he crossed behind him, "You're doing the dishes tonight. And then, you're going back straight back to sleep." Seifer plopped down on the sofa as Hayner looked up at him, his hand going to the back of his head.

"Back to sleep?" Hayner grumbled, pushing back his chair with his legs and standing up. "Why? I just woke up."

"Yeah, but look what I had to do to wake you up." Seifer pointed with his thumb at Hayner's cot, which was still laying in the corner of the room, flat on the ground, the blanket trailing across the carpet. Hayner frowned, and mumbled, "No one said you had to wake me up like that – "

"But it was the only way, Chicken-wuss," Seifer said, flipping through the channels idly. "I was calling your name for like five minutes." He found the show House, and stopped on that channel. "You sure are a deep sleeper."

Hayner blinked, and then turned away to go wash their bowls without responding. He noticed that Seifer had already washed all the dishes he had seen when he had first arrived to the apartment, so all he had to do was clean their spoons, bowls, and cup, in his case. As he started running the water, hearing House playing in the background, he allowed himself to space out, and began thinking back to his dream...

Seifer's calling him had explained why he heard Seifer and saw him, of all people, so it made Hayner feel a bit better... Better? Why? _Well... Because! Usually you don't have dreams about other boys coming to your rescue... Unless you're a girl. _Hayner let out a small sigh, and stacked the dishes on the counter as he cleaned them. _Look, it probably just started because I got so effing scared at the station today... It was traumatic, after all..._ But even as he told himself that, he was still feeling odd about the dream...

Hayner didn't realize it, but the thing that was bothering him was not the content of the dream, nor how when Seifer had shown up he had felt _so_ happy seeing him, but it was because he kept replaying the scene over and over in his mind, and couldn't stop thinking about it, no matter how hard he tried...

After finishing the dishes, and trying to make Seifer yield and let him watch House, Hayner was literally _forced _to go to bed as Seifer pulled him up by the shirt collar, fixed his cot for him, and then pushed him back onto the small bed, covering him with the quilt, and then threatening to sit on him until he fell asleep.

So, Hayner had immediately obliged, and went right back to sleep, and slept soundly throughout the night, even after Seifer had turned off the television and gone into his room for the night, closing the door a bit more softly than he normally would...

-x-x-x-x-

The next morning, Hayner was the first to rise. As he rolled over on his cot he looked out the window at the tops of the buildings surrounding Seifer's apartment. He blinked at the overcast sky, remembering all the events of yesterday – glad he had had no more dreams about it - and then faintly wondered what time it was. He sat up, yawning, and looked toward the kitchen. The digital clock built into Seifer's microwave said 6:54, and Hayner groaned. _So early? This is what I get for sleeping so much yesterday... _Seifer had made him go to bed no later than half past eight, so he had gotten over ten hours just in the middle of the night, along with the several hours the afternoon before, so he was well rested by now.

Stretching as his legs kicked the quilts away from him, Hayner winced at the sores along his legs left from the buttons of his pants. He was going to have to ask Seifer if he could borrow some sleeping pants – and maybe a shirt. He hadn't had time to ask for one before – _Seifer practically threw me into bed last night..._

Tilting his head, Hayner realized just how dirty that sounded.

Letting it go, Hayner slid off the cot and reached for his vest – which he had thrown on the ground before falling asleep -, and picked it up with a swing of his arm. He draped it over himself, and shivered slightly. It was cold today; they _were _in the dead of winter, after all... But he didn't know where the thermostat was, or if there even was any sort of heater in this god-forsaken apartment. Seifer had mentioned something about air conditioning yesterday, but that didn't mean he had a heater.

After wandering around the apartment for a while, deliberating whether or not he should turn on the TV, and if it might wake Seifer up (the reason the TV wasn't already on), Hayner finally glanced at the clock. _I'll turn it on at 7:30, to let him get some more sleep just in case it does wake him, _Hayner decided, and watched as the clock turned from 6:59 to 7:00 on the dot.

And then a knock came at the door.

Blinking, Hayner froze, and turned slowly to face the door. Should he answer it? Or would that bring trouble for Seifer? Maybe he wasn't supposed to be here. What if it was a friend of Seifer's? Like Rai or Fuu? They'd make fun of him, wouldn't they? Especially if Seifer told them why he was here... He didn't exactly want to flaunt his poor grades to everyone in the entire town...

The knock sounded again, and Hayner tarried only a moment longer, before walking over to the door, and opening it.

Immediately, he wished he hadn't.

"Almasy! Where's my rent?!" The screeching voice of the lady from yesterday, Mrs. Jones, rudely infiltrated his tired brain, and Hayner drew back from her unconsciously. Mrs. Jones glared at him through her beady eyes, and then barked, "You're not Almasy! Who're you?!"

Hayner winced at her shrillness, and said quietly, "I'm Hay- "

"Where's my rent?!" The old lady screeched, not even waiting for him to finish. "Get Almasy out her right now! I! Want! My! Rent!" Mrs. Jones stamped her foot with each word.

"Alright, alright," Hayner actually covered his ears – he didn't mean to be rude, but her voice was so _hideously loud. _"I'll get him. I'll get him!"

Fleeing from the scene, Hayner made it across the living room and stepped one foot into the hallway, still dark from the lack of light, before the figure of Seifer came hurtling out of the darkness, nearly toppling him over. It took Hayner a second to recognize him, because he wasn't wearing his day clothes - in fact, he wasn't even wearing a shirt. Just pajama pants that - Hayner was quick to notce - were a bit lower than he wore his normal pants.

The older teen looked down at Hayner with a mixture of confusion and anger, his beanie squashed precariously on his head. Seifer looked from Hayner to the door, and then back again as his confusion disappeared.

"Ah, Seif-" Hayner started, but was cut off again.

"You let her in?!" Seifer yelled, over the screech Mrs. Jones was letting out upon seeing Seifer.

"I want my rent! I want my rent! I want my rent!" It was like a nasty, smelly siren was going off in the doorway, but Seifer ignored it as he looked at Hayner.

"Hey, Chicken-wuss! Do us both a favor – no more answering the door!" Seifer shoved past him, and Hayner slipped slightly in his socks, but caught his balance.

"Hey!" He yelled back, but Seifer ignored him.

"Look, old bag!" Seifer shouted, standing several feet away from Mrs. Jones, as if afraid to approach the angry lady. "I'll get you the rent tomorra'!"

"Tomorrow is always a day away, Almasy!" Mrs. Jones shrieked, waving her arms. "I want my rent _**now**_!"

"F—k!" Seifer swore, her voice already giving him a headache. "Fine, fine! You cheapskate!" And with a furious glare that Hayner would have drawn away from, had it been pointed at him, Seifer leaned forward toward the table next to the door, and whisked a wallet off the top.

As Seifer complained and swore at the lady, and the caretaker continued to scream at him, this time in a foreign language, Hayner examined the wallet from across the room. It was amazing, he thought as he stared at it. It looked just like his. It was the same color and shape, and he realized as Seifer slid all the money in the wallet into the awaiting pudgy hand of Mrs. Jones, that it even had 'Hayner' written in the bottom, just like his -

Hayner realized it too late.

"Hey, wait!" He shouted, but both of the people in the doorway ignored him as he held out an arm to stop them. "That's my- !"

Mrs. Jones patted Seifer on the arm, and he shook his head in disbelief that she was already so calm again, with the money paid. Seifer waved her off with a few more choice words, and Mrs. Jones pulled the door after her as she left-

"Ah, ah- !" Hayner reached out in one last, desperate attempt to stop them, but the door slammed shut, cutting off any hope of him getting his money back. Instead, Hayner stood there as if frozen in motion, his mouth gaping open, his arm stretched out but not moving anywhere.

Seifer sighed, throwing the wallet back on the table. He yawned, and said as he turned around, "Glad that's over- What's wrong with you?"

Hayner frowned, and let his arm fall back to his side. "What's wrong?" He growled back, and then took a few steps forward so that he stood in front of a surprised Seifer, whose eyebrows shot up into his bangs. "What's wrong is that you just stole my money! That was all I have, Seifer! What am I going to do now?!" He ran a hand through his hair nervously, as Seifer just stared down at him.

"... You look like sh-t," Seifer said, pulling his hat down more firmly, disregarding Hayner's questions.

"You don't look so hot yourself," Hayner mumbled, attempting to nurse his askew hair. Seifer grinned lopsidedly, but didn't say anything. Whenever Hayner slept with the gel still in, he often woke up with it all over the place... "But that's not the point!" Hayner yelled at a yawning Seifer. "How did you even get my wallet?! It was in my pants!" He started patting the front of his cargos, to further stress his exclamation.

"Easy – I nicked it yesterday while you were asleep." Hayner sputtered and glared at him, but Seifer ignored it. "Look, calm down. I got it in case something like this happened." He gestured toward the door. "She comes by every morning at seven, and I knew you'd screw it up and actually open the door." He yawned, as Hayner glared at him, still, though slightly lost in his own head. _How'd he find my wallet? I wonder how long he had to search me before he found it... Jeeze, I need to work on being a lighter sleeper._

He looked up as Seifer finished saying, "I get my paycheck Monday – I'll pay you back then. You'll just stay another night or two. No biggie." Deciding this was the best course of action, Seifer slipped past Hayner, still yawning, to get some food.

Hayner frowned, and turned around to face his retreating back, and wanted to get one more hit in, so he snapped, "Fine! But no more going into my pants without permission!"

Seifer smirked, and looked over his shoulder, as Hayner realized his mistake, and frowned, trying to hide his blush behind anger. "I'll work on it," Seifer said cockily, and turned his course away from the kitchen, and instead toward his bedroom. "Hey – while I get dressed, make some toast." He snapped his fingers over his head and sauntered away. Hayner watched his bare back leave until he had disappeared once more into his room, before Hayner could say anything to stop him.

Angry with himself, and angry with Seifer, a humiliated Hayner moved into the kitchen to make toast. "Stupid Seifer," he mumbled, grabbing the same bread as last night, and the butter from the fridge, and walking it over to the toaster. "I have half a mind to beat that sorry son of a..." He sighed, popping the bread in.

So he got to stay here for an additional two nights. That wasn't all bad. And he figured that he had already done his part to pay for the rent, right? More than his part. He'd get most of the money back from Seifer, and use it to buy a train ticket, and then – Hayner frowned. What was this? He was already feeling attached to this place, wasn't he? He knew that, because he didn't want to leave. He had a bed, food, and easy access to downtown Twilight Town if he stayed here... And besides, if he had to deal with an angry landlord like Mrs. Jones by himself, he wasn't sure he even wanted to rent his own apartment: too scary.

But what could he do? he thought mournfully, as the bread popped up, technically considered toast now. He reached for one of the pieces, getting the butter and the butter knife ready in his other hand. It wasn't like he could ask Seifer to let him stay here even longer... And he sure as hell wasn't ready to go home yet. But who knows? Maybe his parents were already worried about him, and calling the police? He bet they hadn't expected him to stay gone all night, too...

But if they weren't looking for him, then... He frowned.

And then something bumped into his shoulder.

"Ah!" Hayner let out a small yell, and started, turning to look at his shoulder, where all he could see was a beanie, stretched around a blonde head.

He felt his heart beat erratically. "S-Seifer?" Hayner asked, looking at the back of his head. He was just standing there, behind him, his head on Hayner's shoulder. Hayner blinked. _Did... he die?_

Seifer let out an incoherent mumble, and Hayner got it immediately. He smiled slightly, and asked quietly, "You're not a morning person, are you?"

Seifer shook his head back and forth, his hair tickling the bottom of Hayner's neck. He went slightly red as Seifer looked at him, his blue eyes looking up sleepily at him. _Seifer's eyes... _They were so blue. How had he never noticed this before?

"Z'at toas'?" Seifer's words were slurred and muffled, now that his mouth was against Hayner's shoulder.

"Uh-huh," Hayner said, his brown eyes wide, in his own little world again as he looked at Seifer's impossibly smooth skin, broken by a scar between his eyes... He slowly lifted the toast up for Seifer to take. But instead of taking it with his hand, Seifer lifted his head up and stretched over Hayner, biting down on the toast with his mouth, and then pulling it back toward himself, his forehead once more resting on Hayner's shoulder.

Hayner blinked. _He must be really sleepy, to act this way... Or maybe he really isn't a morning person..._He must have just acted awake when Mrs. Jones was here, most likely due to the adrenaline from his awakening, but now that it was all over... Seifer started to chew his breakfast lazily, and Hayner felt each bite resonate through Seifer's head and into his arm via his shoulder.

"Hey now, stop that," Hayner said. "That feels weird." _Nevermind that it feels weird to have your head on my shoulder - oh no. Totally normal. Totally..._ His heart beat particularly loudly, and he swallowed hard.

"Mmnf," Seifer nodded and made a noise of agreement, and Hayner felt the fabric of the beanie slip down and off his shoulder as Seifer moved away toward the couch. Hayner looked over his shoulder as Seifer stumbled sluggishly across the room toward the TV - wearing his normal attire of beanie, vest, and brown pants -, before he grabbed his own toast from the toaster, and buttered it, as well.

_That.. was so.._ Weird? Nice? ... Nice?! No. Not nice. Weird. It was weird. Not nice! Weird! That's all it was... _That's... all..._ But then why was his hand shaking so much as he struggled to get butter on his bread?

Joining Seifer on the couch after putting the bread and butter away, Hayner sat a foot or so away from Seifer, sure that being any closer to him would be weird, and any farther would imply he wanted to be away from him.

And for some reason, this mattered to him.

Seifer seemed to be confused as to how to turn the TV on in his tired state, as he pushed random buttons on the remote, and then gave up all together, throwing it on the couch between them. Hayner finished his current mouthful of toast, and then picked it up, turning it on.

"What do you want to watch?" Hayner asked, taking another bite, his heart finally returning to normal.

"Whatever," Seifer said, speaking through his toast. "Jus' not somethin' sh-tty," he mumbled, tilting his head back.

"I'll try my best," Hayner said, slightly sarcastically.

Hayner channel-surfed, until he came to a show that Seifer made a noise to, and Hayner took that to mean that he want to watch it. Hayner didn't recognize it, so he just put the remote down and watched it curiously.

After eating until all of their toast was gone – and Hayner got up, fully lost with the show, and made them two more pieces -, Seifer finally said after a silence, "As soon as this is over, we'll go outside and do some sh-t." Hayner raised an eyebrow at him – Seifer seemed almost to swear more when he was tired. "I mean," Seifer said, attempting to explain as he looked at the screen, looking confused at his own lack of coherency, "we can get some better food or something. I'll show you around, too, so that you know where you can go when I'm working on Monday."

Hayner nodded and thought about asking Seifer what his job was, until he saw Seifer reach for the remote and miss, several times, and then swear, promptly knocking it onto the floor, and decided to wait until Seifer was more awake before he asked. Instead he watched as Seifer started feeling around on the floor for the remote, and laughed to himself at the image of a very sleepy Seifer.

_You learn something everyday..._And it was true. He never knew how tired Seifer could get, before this. At least something good had already come from this whole situation of living with him...

He had already gotten to know Seifer better, if it was only a little bit.

* * *

Sorry about the long time between updates. D: Life, yunno? Yeah, well, there it is. And it's a little shorter than normal... Sorry... But I tried to throw in a little more hints that they like each other... At least, from Hayner's side. Maybe I didn't do that good of a job... *Mumbles.* I'm tired right now. D: *Not a night person.* Maybe I'll re-read it tomorrow and add something... I'll put something down here, if I do.

Hope this chapter was worth something... *Waves it off...*


	5. Jumping Beans

Chapter five, chapter five! Whooo.

Thanks for the reviews! Every review makes me glow inside. :3 And I've read ALL of them at least a DOZEN times! So they're totally appreciated and loved, each and every one of them! :3!!

Sorry for the long wait! And it's not even that looong...

**Disclaimer:** The disclaimer from the first chapter still stands. :O!! Also, I don't own Deadliest Catch. I wish I did. That would rock. I would have all the crab I could ever want...

* * *

\e\x\i\t\ Next Exit /n/e/x/t/

A Kingdom Hearts FanFic by Mayfall

- - - - - - - Chapter Five: Jumping Beans - - - - - - -

* * *

After Seifer got some coffee – that he made Hayner make for him – he had woken up fully, and Hayner had gone into the bathroom and borrowed some of Seifer's gel, and fixed his hair. And with that, they were ready to go. The two of them had proceeded to put their shoes on, Seifer grabbing a jacket for himself and one for Hayner to borrow since it was so cold out, and then headed toward the door of the apartment.

Just as they were walking out the door, however, Seifer made a small noise of exclamation, as he remembered something.

"Oh, yeah." Hayner looked at him as he reached toward a ring of keys, hanging on the wall next to the door. "We have to visit Rai today." He scooped Rai's house key on his finger – a copy made by Rai's family for Seifer years ago – and tucked it into his pocket.

"Rai?" Hayner asked as the two finally made it out the door and started walking toward the stairs. "The graduate Rai? Isn't he at college?"

"He took some courses online before actually going to a college campus," Seifer explained. "And now he's got a cold, so I promised to visit him."

Hayner looked at him, surprised. "Really? Seifer, that's so... uncharacteristically nice of you."

Seifer shoved a hand into Hayner's face, pretending to do it out of anger. But the truth was, he was blocking him from seeing a slight red in his cheeks that arrived with the compliment. "Shaddap. I'm plenty nice. But only to the people I like. Which is why you shouldn't expect much."

"Puh!" Hayner growled, swatting his hand out of his face. "Yeah, well, you shouldn't expect too much from me, either." With a 'hmph', Hayner stalked through the door to the stairs, pushing it open hard and not bothering to hold it for Seifer. Instead, Seifer just kicked it open for himself, and followed after Hayner, his hands in his jacket pockets, a smirk on his face.

The sound of heavy footsteps filled the vicinity of the stairwell, bouncing back and forth across the walls, making it sound like 50 Hayners and 50 Seifers were flouncing down the concrete steps. _Fifty Hayners... I don't think I could handle that many,_ Seifer thought darkly, watching the bouncing back of the boy in front of him. Dealing with one temperamental, touchy, outburst-prone Hayner was enough. And there was something else there, beneath his spiky-haired exterior – some other emotion he hadn't figured out yet. Seifer was only just beginning to notice it this past day or two – after all, it wasn't like he actually got to interact with Hayner that much on a daily basis. A few struggle battles every year, a taunt every now and again, maybe even a competition between their groups of friends, but never eating dinner and breakfast together, or watching television together, or seeing what his sleeping face looked like...

Seifer scratched his nose to once more cover his cheeks, but he didn't have to worry – Hayner wasn't looking at him, even as he turned the corner in the stairwell to descend even further. _I'm just beginning to see him in a new light, that's all..._ That's why he felt so weird.

That's why.

So, ignoring any other possibility to explain his blushing cheeks, Seifer galloped down the last level of stairs, and once more had to kick open the door of the stairs as Hayner didn't bother to stop to hold it for him. This time, however, he only made it a few steps before he caught up with Hayner, who seemed to have calmed down enough to allow Seifer to walk with him. After all, Seifer was his guide from this point on. Hayner didn't remember anything about navigation from yesterday – he had been too tired – so Seifer would have to show him around now.

"So... You said after breakfast, you were going to show me where you work?" Hayner asked, attempting to find a place to start at.

"Yup," Seifer said, pushing open the front doors of the apartment complex open. "I'll tell you about it in a minute. Before that, what do you want to eat?"

Hayner looked out at the street in front of him, and blinked, momentarily distracted from the thought of food by the sights in front of him. He almost forgot how busy this part of town was, even more so on a Saturday morning. People moved in large groups, moving from shop to shop, with bags that grew in number each time someone left a store. It was Christmas time, after all. Everyone was shopping to their heart's content – but they'd all regret it, come tax day...

Something Hayner hadn't noticed before was the Christmas decorations up around the town. He was shocked, suddenly, as he really only just realized how close the upcoming holiday was... Hadn't Seifer said something about it only being a few days away?

"Oi!" A snap in front of his face startled Hayner out of his thoughts. "Chicken-wuss!" He looked at Seifer, blinking. "I asked what you wanted for breakfast. The tram is coming, so we need to decide if we should hop on or not." He pointed past Hayner to a slowly approaching red and gold tram, with 'Twilight College District' written in fancy lettering across the side of the vehicle.

Hayner stared at it for a moment, thinking about his choice of breakfast. "Um... Crepes!" He decided – every Saturday his mother would make crepes for breakfast, but since he wasn't home this Saturday, he would be missing out.

"Crepes it is, chicken-wuss. Now hurry – that means we've got to get on the tram, c'mon." Seifer hustled away, his hands sliding out of his pockets so that he could run more efficiently.

Hayner followed suit, rushing after him. He glanced back and forth as they ran, soaking up the sights around the apartment building. A coffee shop on the far corner, a post office opposite the apartment building, a bookshop next to that...

Hayner arrived next to Seifer and looked at the tram, and was shocked to see it so close already. A flashback of yesterday flew before his eyes, and he took a step back. Seifer glanced at him, and, sensing his nervousness, shook his head and grabbed Hayner's arm in his grasp. "You'll be fine," he murmured, and held an arm in the air to signal the tram to slow down. It wouldn't come to a stop – it never did, except for wheelchairs and the elderly – so they would have to jump on.

It puffed closer, the wheels slowing down to only about a mile per hour, crawling toward them. It was like a ski lift, this way.

Holding Hayner tightly, Seifer grabbed the railing to the left of the tram doorway, and hoisted Hayner in first. Shakily, Hayner grabbed at the right railing, and pulled his way inside, feeling a burst of adrenaline. It wasn't like this system was new to him – true, he had never been to the college district, as it was a rule that only students of the college and the people living in the district could visit the district (in an attempt to keep underage drinking to a minimum, as most of the bars in the College District didn't card), – but there was a tram just like this that ran along the length of the shopping district of the main village of Twilight Town. He had done this a million times, he reminded himself as he clung desperately to the first open seat next to the door. _Million times... Done it before..._ But with what had happened yesterday... The train... and the idea of dying... And then Seifer...!

Hayner flinched involuntarily as Seifer clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, chicken-wuss. Look, you made it. Amazing! Now sit down..." He had, of course, noticed Hayner's less than graceful entrance onto the trolley, as well as a few other people did – several passengers were looking at him oddly – but he wasn't going to make fun of him too much for it. It was the next morning after almost being run over. He couldn't laugh at him yet – tomorrow, he would. But for today, he was going to work hard to be extra nice to him.

"Uh," was all Hayner could choke out, before moving to sit down. Hayner settled into the seat next to the window and leaned against the inner wall of the tram to steady himself.

He had practically forgotten about the near train accident and how close it had come to... to... Hayner closed his eyes tight, trying to erase to image of headlights embedded on his eyelids. He could have **died**. Died a horrible, gruesome, bloody, _painful_ death... But thanks to the person sitting next to him, he was still alive. In fact, thanks to Seifer he even had a place to crash for a few nights. And, even though it was _Seifer_, it was still nice to have company after running away from home like this. Before this, he honestly would have thought that no company would be better than Seifer's company. But now that he was living with him...

_Hey, don't think like that. It was only one night. Who knows? Maybe he'll actually throw you out or something tonight..._ Sure, Hayner didn't really think that. But he didn't want to give his hopes up anyway.

_It really is all thanks to Seifer, and --... Hey._ Hayner looked up, out the window, thinking. _Did I... ever even thank him?_

Hayner looked toward Seifer, and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a sound out, Seifer interrupted him.

"We're here." He stood up, instinctively grabbing Hayner's arm – something Hayner was glad of, since he wasn't sure he would be able to stand so willingly.

"S-So soon?" Hayner stuttered, watching the scenery flash by.

Seifer glanced at him, and pulled him down onto the step in front of the door. "Yeah- it's a short ride." He sent him a sideways glance. "But, uh... I'll ask the driver to stop, just this once."

"Really?" Hayner asked, looking up at Seifer suddenly. "You will? Oh, thank god..."

Seifer nodded, and looked out the ever-open doorway. He could see the crepe shop from here. Just one hop, and they'd be there.

"Look – here." Seifer took one of Hayner's hands in his own, making Hayner look down at it, his cheeks going red. "We'll jump together, okay? So-"

"I can do it just fine, Seifer!" Hayner snapped suddenly, tearing his hand away. He was embarrassed about how his heart was pounding. He was a man, d-mnit! He could do this! "And don't tell him to stop – I'll jump alone, while it's moving, just like always!"

Seifer felt a sudden, evil urge. "Alright," he breathed through clenched teeth. "Fine. _Fine._" Screw being nice. This kid was a punk. He'd show him...!

"On the count of three, then, chicken-wuss." Seifer raised an eyebrow, and positioned himself behind Hayner.

Hayner went pale. Could he really do this?

"One..." He started to regret this. He didn't want to jump. He looked at the ground, whizzing away at what felt like a million miles per hour, but what could only be about one, and felt sick. He'd jump, then he'd get caught under a wheel, and then he'd be squished over and over by the cars behind the tram...

"Two..." He wasn't going to do this! Hayner started to turn toward Seifer, was going to apologize and tell him to ask the driver to stop...

But all of a sudden, a strong hand on his back alerted him to an evil, evil Seifer, saying in an evil, evil voice, "Three!", and he felt himself being pushed forward. And then he was hurtling toward the pavement, his arms waving around wildly, feeling his connection to the tram being lost as he feet slipped off the bottom step...

... And then he felt two familiar arms wrapping themselves around his midsection, that pulled him forward and down so that his feet hit the road solidly – he didn't even stumble. The tram whizzed away behind them.

He clutched desperately to Seifer's arms as he felt adrenaline pumping through his veins. Seifer laughed slightly, and Hayner felt rage like never before.

"Seifer!" He screeched, his voice shaking. "I hate you! I hate you so much!" Why did he do that?! Why?!

"Hey now," Seifer said, pulling him along out of the road. "Don't be like that." Hayner could tell by his voice that he was smiling. Oh, how he hated Seifer... What was he going to say now? 'Once a chicken-wuss, always a chicken-wuss'?

"Now you know that even if you ever start to fall like that ever again, there'll be time for me to save you. So, as long as you're near me, you'll never have to worry about death-by-vehicle ever again. So, you're just going to have to always be with me."

...

Hayner blushed. Full-out **blushed**. He looked down at the arms still holding him tight, and **blushed.** Did Seifer just say...?

He did. And _he_ couldn't believe it, either. Seifer, himself, had only just realized what that had sounded like... He was just trying to point out that Hayner had nothing to fear! He wasn't going to die or anything! But, he had phrased it so poorly that it sounded like...

_"You're just going to have to always be with me."_

The two just stood there awkwardly, Seifer still with his arms around Hayner, Hayner still clutching onto them. They were in the middle of the sidewalk, too, so people passing had to walk around them, and they stared as they did so.

"A lover's meeting?" An old woman whispered to her companion, trying not to be overhead, but being so anyway.

Hayner let go all of a sudden. He felt that if he blushed any harder, his nose would start bleeding. And then his ears. And then his eyes. And then he'd just be one, big, bloody mess, bleeding all over the sidewalk. "So.. Crepes, right?"

Following his lead, Seifer took his arms back. "Uh, yeah. Over there. Follow me."

"Kay," Hayner muttered, looking down until Seifer had passed him, so that he didn't see how red his face was.

-x-x-x-x-

An awkward conversation and few crepes later, they found themselves hopping on another tram – Hayner both entering and leaving the vehicle without Seifer's help. It was true: he didn't fear it nearly as much this morning. If anything, he was afraid of falling again, so that Seifer would have to come near him. Because he didn't know if he would be able to handle being that close to Seifer again.

A long walk to Central Station followed, and then a short ride to Sunset Station, and another walk all the way to Rai's house. Even after the long commute, the two still felt semi-awkward about the incident this morning, but they were both trying to forget it.

"This is where Rai lives?" Hayner asked, surprised, looking up at the building before them. It was so cold now, that he was hugging the borrowed Seifer's coat close to him. It made him feel dizzy whenever he took a deep breath, since it smelled so strongly of Seifer.

"Yeah – why?" Seifer asked, questioning the astonishment in his voice.

"Well, it just practically shares a backyard with my neighbor's house." He pointed past Rai's house, to the dark blue one behind it. It was facing the opposite way, but Hayner could recognize it from here. "We live to the left of that house. I had no idea we lived so close..."

Seifer glanced at him, and then walked up to the front of the house. He unlocked and opened the front door without knocking, and instead yelled up at the stairs, "Hey, Rai, it's me!"

"What if he's sleeping?" Hayner, who followed him in, started to ask, but Rai shouted back.

"Ah, great! I thought you forgot, y'know?" Seifer dropped his shoes next to the pairs near the door, and Hayner followed his example.

"He won't mind that I'm here, right?" Hayner whispered, glancing around the house as he dropped his shoes next to Seifer's.

"Nah." Seifer led the way up the stairs to Rai's room, and knocked once before opening the door.

"Hey, man." Seifer offered a wave in greeting. "How're you feeling?" Rai was lying in bed like yesterday, but this time his television was on the discovery channel, rather than Spongebob.

"Loads better. I think it was the soup, y'kno – Hayner?" Rai blinked curiously up at Hayner as he slid awkwardly into the room after Seifer.

"Uh, hi, Rai..." Hayner shifted against the doorframe. "Uh... I'm sorry to hear you're sick." He looked at Seifer pleadingly, in hopes he would think of a good excuse as to why he was here...

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot," Seifer said casually. He hadn't forgotten at all – he just wanted to make Hayner suffer. "Hayner got kicked out of his house yesterday cause he was caught reading porn, so he's crashing at my place until he finds the circus-of-his-choice to run away with. What'cha watching?" Seifer moved further into the room, and sat on the edge of Rai's bed, reaching for the remote.

Hayner stood in the doorway, mortified. Rai looked at him strangely, and Hayner felt his cheeks burn. "Uh..."

Rai just shrugged. "Happens to the best of us, y'know? Deadliest Catch marathon," he explained to Seifer, and settled against his pillows as Seifer turned up the volume with a nod of approval.

"Guess so," Hayner squeaked in response. He was going to kill Seifer. Strangle him, cut him up into tiny pieces, burn the pieces, and finally send the ashes down the garbage disposal. He was going to _kill_ him.

Seifer glanced up at him, his eyes glinting with victory. "Well don't just stand there, chicken-wuss. Go sit over there." And he gestured toward the chair by the window. Hayner stuttered, and then hurried across the room to go sit down.

During the show, they talked over the sounds of crabs being lifted on deck, and over the bleeped out swearwords of Alaskain crab fishermen, as Hayner asked Rai about his college and his online courses. They made a lot of small talk, during which Hayner pointed out his house to both of them out the window – from Rai's window, they could just see the topmost part of the roof of Hayner's house.

Rai seemed to accept Seifer's story, and almost respected Hayner for it, so Hayner didn't bother to set him straight. Rai and him became friends almost instantly, as they connected over small things – favorite sports team, favorite ship on Deadliest Catch, favorite episode of Spongebob (at which point Seifer laughed at both of them) – and Hayner actually started to enjoy himself. He should have felt weird, sitting there in the room of one of his rivals, with two of the three there, but he was actually fine with it. Rai – even Seifer – could be nice, once Hayner got to know him.

It was going perfectly fine, until Rai suggested Hayner turn up the heater in the corner of his room, when he saw Hayner shivering slightly.

"Uh, sure," Hayner said, getting up from the chair and crossing over to the heater by the door. He bent down in front of it, and paused. _Where's.. the 'on' button?_ "Uh..." He looked to the left of it, then to right. Where was the knob-y thing?!

"Jesus, chicken-wuss. You can't do anything right, can you?" Seifer suddenly appeared behind Hayner, and Hayner stiffened.

"It's not my fault! I don't know how to work it!" He glared at the heater, refusing to look at Seifer. He was so close...

"Look." Seifer leaned over him, one hand on his hip, the other pointing to a crack in the top of the heater. "You just pop that open," he slid his thumbnail under it, and the small door swung open, "and there's the knob." He turned it to the right, and it hummed to life. "Get it, lamer?"

"U-uh-huh..." Hayner stuttered.

Seifer turned to look at him, to see what was wrong with him now, and he immediately realized why. He was standing over Hayner, practically trapping him under his body. His legs were on either side of Hayner, pretty much pinning him in-between his legs. And their faces were _so close. _Their faces were close enough that, if Seifer wanted to, he could lean in and kiss him without much effort. Just close his eyes and –

Whoa...

Wait.

What?

_... What?!_

Seifer jumped back so fast, it was like he had been electrocuted. Hayner fell over, off his knees, and onto his butt, staring up, wide-eyed at Seifer, his face positively glowing. Seifer had his hand over his face, his index finger knuckle pressing into his lips. He looked down at Hayner, his beanie lopsided from the sudden jump.

Hayner looked up at him, panting from his spot on the floor. _What was.. that?_

Rai, from his spot on the bed, looked at the two of them suspiciously, his eyes narrowed as he glanced from one face to the other.

There was a moment of silence as Seifer looked down at Hayner, and Hayner looked back at him, feeling an odd pounding in his chest. A few seconds passed, and then Rai cleared his throat.

"Hey – Hayner?" Hayner looked over at Rai, his mouth hanging open slightly, his cheeks tinted red. "Could you get me a bowl of soup? Cause I'm feeling a little sick, y'know? The soups are in the cabinet next to the fridge."

"Uh – s-sure." Hayner leapt to his face, not daring to look at Seifer, who had turned his back on both of them, and was fixing his beanie. He rushed from the room, tripping over his own feet in his rush.

The door closed after him, and left Rai and Seifer alone in the room.

"Coming up next, on Deadliest Catch!" Rai reached for the remote, and turned it down, his eyes glued to Seifer's back.

"... Seif?" Rai said at last. Seifer ignored him. He finished fixing his appearance, and turned, without a word, to go look out the window. Rai watched him as he walked across the room.

"Seifer." There was the creak of the bed as Rai sat up more. "What was that, y'know?"

"What was _what_?" Seifer snapped, turning to glare at Rai. The teenager glared at his friend, embarrassed and angry. "Nothing happened."

Rai frowned. "Seifer... Did you..." Seifer prepared himself. This wasn't going to be good... He was going to call him on it. He was going to point it out. D-mn, if even Rai could tell, then Hayner, surely...

Rai opened his mouth to finish his sentence. "Did you..."

_Here it comes..._

"... Burn yourself?"

...

Seifer let out a relieved chuckle. "Yeah, Rai. That's right. But I'm fine."

Rai beamed up at him. "Just like Seifer. So strong."

With a grin, Seifer shook his head, bowing it to look at his hands. "Yeah, Rai, that's it."

It was a good thing Rai was so oblivious to life.

---

Downstairs, Hayner fumbled around, his heart beating spastically. _What was that?_ Hayner opened the cabinet next to the fridge, searching for a can of soup._ He was standing so close! _He withdrew a can of tomato soup, and closed the cabinet door. _Why so close?_ He used the pop-top to open it, careful not to spill any. _And why did he pull away like that?_ He found the bowls on an open shelf, and pulled one down._ Talk about awkward._ He poured the soup into the bowl, and put it in the microwave for two minutes. _He has freckles on his face, I never noticed that before..._

_Hayner!_ Hayner stopped moving around, and instead leaned his back against the countertop of Rai's kitchen. He gripped the edge of the counter tightly, and took several deep breaths. Calm down. He had to calm down.

Why was he acting like this anyway?! He started to get angry. Why, why, why, _why?! _Why was he acting like this?! It was Seifer, _Seifer!_, for god's sake! His enemy! _A jerk! A scoundrel! A moron! An idiot! A... a.. jerk!_

He had run out of synonyms.

Still, though. He had no reason to act like this! "God..." He shook his head, and pulled his jacket closer around him. But then he got a strong whiff of Seifer, and that made him even angrier.

The microwave dinged, and Hayner jumped. He had almost forgotten about it... He opened the door of the microwave, and reached for the bowl of soup. Then he paused.

He lifted his hands in front of his face. His fingers were shaking... More adrenaline. Except this time, he didn't get it from jumping off a tram.

He got it from being next to Seifer.

---

Three minutes after leaving the room, Hayner brought Rai his soup, the bowl on a plate to keep him from dropping it, and a spoon next to it. He avoided looking at Seifer, who was sitting on the bed again, and came around the bed to pass Rai the soup.

"Ah," Rai said, taking the plate. "Thanks so much, y'know? And are you okay?"

Hayner felt his nerves jump a foot in the air. "Y-Yeah, o-of c-c-course. W-Why w-would y-you th-think..."

Rai and Seifer stared at him. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks. _Sh-t._ He always stuttered when he felt put-on-the-spot.

"Well," Rai explained, after a long enough pause had gone by, "Seifer burned himself on the heater, so I was wondering if you did. That's why he jumped," he explained at last, reaching for his spoon.

Hayner watched him scoop up a spoonful, and then blow on it. "O-Oh," he said. He finally caved, and glanced at Seifer. Seifer was ignoring him, looking at the television, instead. He looked normal, though. Not blushing anymore, like before – because Hayner was sure he had been blushing.

Hayner felt embarrassed. Was he the only one, then, who thought that exchange was awkward, at all?

There was the sound of a smack of lips. "Mm, good soup, thanks Hayner."

-x-x-x-x-

It was raining and dark outside, when they finally left. They stayed for the entire marathon, as all of them were fans of Deadliest Catch, and Rai was lonely, after all. He couldn't go out at all since he was sick, and so he didn't have any outside contact during the day. So they stayed to keep him company until he was tired enough to go to sleep. They asked if they should make him dinner, but he declined, saying the soup was enough. Then they had exchanged goodbyes, and Seifer and Hayner had left, borrowing an umbrella from Rai with a promise to come back and return it.

As they walked down the street, side-by-side, Seifer holding the umbrella, Hayner's heart jumped every time his shoulder bumped into Seifer's. He looked anywhere but at Seifer, and kept his lips to keep from bursting out with things like: 'Why did you jump like that?!' 'You were blushing!' 'You didn't really get burned, did you?!' But he wouldn't dare. Never. Not if Seifer would think he was weird, and tell him he was imaging things.

For some reason, he'd rather hear nothing at all than that.

"Hey," Seifer said unexpectedly, and Hayner's heart rolled over. He stopped walking, forcing Hayner to stop as well, unless he wanted to get wet.

Seifer was looking at Hayner, and Hayner looked up sulkily at him, trying to avoid blushing for no reason at all. "What?"

"While we're here," Seifer said slowly, and then looked past Hayner, to something behind him, "do you want to go look at your house? Yunno, to make sure they're not, like, contacting the police or anything?"

Hayner frowned, and looked over his shoulder. They were about a block away from his house, as they had reached the end of Rai's street. If they walked down the length of the street behind it, they would reach his house, but...

Hayner shook his head. "No. I don't want them to see me. It's better if they think I'm far away..." He frowned more. This was depressing. His home was so close, but he didn't dare and go there. Not to see them, or anything...

An elbow in his side broke him of his thoughts. He looked up to see Seifer grinning down at him.

"Hey, hey, chicken-wuss," Seifer poked him again in the ribs with his elbow. "What's with the serious expression? Trying to be the tough guy?"

Hayner smiled despite himself, and shoved Seifer slightly. "Hell no." He grinned, and then asked, "What are we eating for dinner?"

"Whatever you're buying," Seifer said with a shrug, and started walking again.

"How can I buy anything?" Hayner retorted, falling into stride with him. "You stole my wallet."

Seifer blinked. "Oh, yeah." He paused, then said, "Alright, then. Leftovers it is."

"Here-here," Hayner agreed.

-x-x-x-x-

After the door had been closed downstairs, and he heard Seifer lock the door behind him, Rai had turned off the television, and turned off his lamp, rolling over to go to sleep.

_There's something going on between them, y'know?_ He thought to himself, staring out the window, the tip of Hayner's house just visible. He grinned slightly, lying there alone. _Sorry, Hayner, but Seifer can be a little thick sometimes, y'know? It'll take him a while to figure it all out, y'know? But he will. And boy, when he does..._ Rai snickered a little, and then allowed his sick body to be carried off to sleep.

* * *

You wanna know how amazingly daft I can be? I totally only _just­­_ saw the little 'reply' button at the bottom of reviews, at, like, the end of November. e___e;;; But I didn't know how much people use them, so I sent one, and then I was too afraid when it said that I emailed someone to do it again. Cause, like, I don't know if people want emails from mee. D;

But! I've sent a couple since them, and I've gotten used to it. Plus, I love it when people reply to my comments, so I figured, why not do the same? ;D! From now on, I'll respond to every one of the reviews I get! Promiiise! Unless, of course, someone says they don't want me too... e___e;;

But! For everyone else! To prove how much I love your reviews, I'ma gunna respond! To! Every! Single! One! Yay! :D!!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Uh... Yeah. Not a lot of action happens around Twilight Town, huh? But, on the bright side, I have the entire rest of the story planned out! And I filled in a lot of holes that there were before, too. :3

Also, I'm going to throw a lot of unnecessary action into the next chapter. For reals. It'll be a bit ridiculous, but, oh well. xD This story needs more action, so more action it will get! :O!

Also, to explain the title of the chapter: They jump from a tram, Seifer jumps away from Hayner, and Seifer wears a 'bean'ie. Plus, I think jumping beans jump when they get warm, and the boys got warm because of the heater. :3 Ohohoho...


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